Pipeline News February 2010

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

February 2010

FREE

Volume 2 Issue 9

Focus Edition:

Working In Winter

When the wind chill is in the extremes, like on this -30oC day, you have to bundle up.

Dave Dornian, with L & C Trucking did exactly that.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Storthoaks: Home of the Rig Worker Page A12

Lloydminster Oilman of the Year Page C1

GPS App for The Oilpatch Page B4

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A2

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

News

Notes

Crews and water help to save Kindersley sports complex from ¿re

Penn West completes swap Penn West Energy Trust has closed its previously announced asset swap.

Penn West exchanged certain interests in the Leitchville area of Saskatchewan for interests complimenting Penn West’s light oil resource plays at Pembina and at Dodsland. In addition, Penn West received cash consideration of $434 million, prior to closing adjustments.

Western Plains going for heavy oil Western Plains Petroleum Ltd. has closed its previously announced common share private placement by issuing an aggregate of 1.88 million common shares at a price of eight cents per share (including 62,500 common shares subscribed for by insiders of the company) for gross proceeds of $150,200.

Net proceeds from the private placement are expected to be applied to the acquisition of heavy oil interests in the Lloydminster area of Saskatchewan and Alberta and for working capital purposes.

West¿re Plans To Invest $40 Million This Year WestFire Energy Ltd.’s board of directors has approved a 2010 capital budget of $40 million ($38 million net of Alberta drilling credits).

This budget is expected to provide an average production rate of 2,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day for the year and a 2010 exit rate of 2,900 BOE a day, with oil exceeding 60 per cent of the volumes.

Over 80 per cent of this year’s $40 million capital budget will be allocated to the drilling of 32 (28.5 net) wells. The focus of the activity will be the drilling of 23 (19.5 net) wells on the Viking light oil resource play lands at Redwater, Alberta and west central Saskatchewan. A further five (five net) horizontal wells will be directed to development of the heavy oil pools in the Lloydminster and Lindbergh areas. The remaining four (four net) wells will develop liquids-rich natural gas in the Bashaw area of Alberta.

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

It didn’t take long for the old Kindersley rink to go up in Áames, but soon it would be surrounded by oilÀeld trucks and equipment, bringing water to Àght the blaze. Photo courtesy of Kindersley Airspray

By Geoff Lee Pipeline News Kindersley – Kindersley’s old hockey rink burned to the ground Jan. 8 but firefighters and oilpatch volunteers relied on team work that day to save the new rink and curling complex for more games yet to be played.

Sixty firefighters from seven area volunteer fire departments and a train of oilfield water haulers, vac trucks, excavators and backhoes and even a privatelyowned fire truck answered the call for assistance from Kindersley fire department chief Ron Hope.

“The response from the oil and gas community was good and it always is,” said Hope. “They support our community tremendously.

“We started calling on them right away. We had a lot of water hauling happening in order to make sure we had sufficient water there.

“When you are pumping the volumes we are, we are taxing the water system heavily. You can only flow so much water through a pipe.”

More than 30 companies, emergency response individuals and organizations were contacted or just showed up to pitch in shortly after the fire was re-

ported around 10 a.m. with the temperature at -20 C adding to the crisis.

“It was cold for a little while – I’ll give you that,” said Hope. “I had to have my gloves off in order to run the radios and stuff. It was terribly icy for sure.

Other than that, it all happens quickly and you just don’t have time to think about it.

“It gave us a challenge that’s for sure. The wind was favorable for it. It was carrying it away from the main part of the town.”

Water trucks were the main order of the day and Pat Holland from Hollands Hot Oil was one of the first guys to get a call – initially from his wife while he was in Calgary.

“I live about a block from the rink,” said Holland.

“I have cedar shakes on my house so I was worried about the wind and sparks setting fire to my roof but I learned it was going the other way so it didn’t affect me.

“Then I got another call for help on my cell and I phoned our dispatch to get our guys over there. I’m on the list for my water trucks. If they have a fire that’s too big and they need water, they will phone me. We have four water trucks and we sent three. “ ɸ Page A6

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

News

A3

Notes

Ryland closes debt ¿nancing

Malcolm Wilson, PhD.

File photo

Copenhagen a disappointment: Malcolm Wilson

By Brian Zinchuk Pipeline News Regina – There were high expectations for the Copenhagen United Nations climate change talks in December, but the result was a letdown for most, not the least of which was Malcolm Wilson, PhD, who is the University of Regina’s point man on climate change.

Wilson has been a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and heads up the Office of Energy and the Environment for the U of R. This time out, he wasn’t part of the national delegation, however, but rather was manning a booth for the U of R and its carbon capture and storage efforts.

“Our main role was to profile the university and promote IPAC,” Wilson told Pipeline News in early January.

IPAC is the International Performance Assessment Centre for Geological Storage of CO2, a research arm of the University of Regina and associated with the Office of Energy and Environment.

They were there as observers. “It would have been better if we had gone in as a member of the Canadian team,” he lamented, noting he was not sure how the

national delegation was determined. He did see TV personality Mike Holmes there, however.

The organization of the event left much to be desired, he explained. He described the way the UN treated observers as an “absolute disaster.”

They were supposed to have their booth set up for much of a week, but in the end, only had it operational for two days. The Monday he spent the entire day in line, trying to get in, even though he and a great number of other people were accredited beforehand. Wilson wasn’t able to gain access to the hall until 5:30 pm that day.

After two days of running their booth, they then found out it had to be shut down for the final two days, with no access to their materials over that time.

They packed up early, on the Wednesday, in anticipation of that announcement.

Over those two days, the delegation spent their time trying to influence people’s opinions on using carbon capture and storage as a viable emissions control strategy. They did come home with a number of business cards.

“What was clear was a lot of people didn’t understand carbon capture and storage,” he said. ɸ Page A7

Ryland Oil Corporation has announced that it has received approval from the TSX Venture Exchange respecting the agreement with Fairway Exploration LLC previously announced on Nov. 26, pursuant to which Fairway has agreed to sell to Ryland a three per cent overriding royalty which is held over production from all southeast Saskatchewan properties held by the company’s whollyowned subsidiary, Pebble Petroleum Inc. In return for the royalty, the company has agreed to pay Fairway a cash payment of $1.2 million (U.S.) and issue 1.2 million common shares at a deemed price of 36 cents. Closing of the sale is pending.

Second Wave sells assets Second Wave Petroleum Inc. has closed its previously announced disposition of assets to TriOil Resources Ltd. for a purchase price of $7.55 million comprised of $5.43 million in cash and 2.12 million common shares of TriOil at a deemed value of $1 per share.

The assets include approximately 130 bbls of oil equivalent per day of operated production at South Tableland in southeast Saskatchewan and Coronation in southern Alberta together with associated gathering systems, batteries, compression facilities and approximately 13,000 acres of undeveloped land.

With respect to the share component of the purchase price, One Exploration Inc. has confirmed completion of its acquisition of all of the outstanding TriOil shares pursuant to a private agreement under which each common share of TriOil was exchanged for about 5.88 class A shares of OneEx issued from treasury.

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

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Calgary Sales OfÀce: Tel: 403-237-7323 Fax: 403-263-7355 Chuck Haines, Technical Sales Cell: 403-860-4660

Swift Current Warehouse: Derek Klassen - Cell: 306-741-2447

Environmental Division Darwin Frehlick - Cell: 421-0491

Lacombe Warehouse: Darcy Day Day - Cell: 403-597-6694

Kindersley Warehouse: Len Jupe - Cell: 306-463-7632

Mud Technicians MIKE EVANS 403-846-9435

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IAN SCOTT Oxbow, Sask.

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JASON LING Carlyle, Sask.

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GERALD SMITH Cell: 421-2408

CHAD STEWART Cell: 421-5198

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EDITORIAL

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Pipeline News Publisher: Brant Kersey - Estevan Ph: 1.306.634.2654 Fax: 1.306.634.3934

Mission Statement: Pipeline News’ mission is to illuminate importance of Saskatchewan oil as an integral part of the province’s sense of community and to show the general public the strength and character of the industry’s people.

Editorial Contributions: SOUTHEAST Brian Zinchuk - Estevan 1.306.461.5599 SOUTHWEST Swift Current 1.306.461.5599 NORTHWEST Geoff Lee - Lloydminster 1.780.875.6685

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Editorial Disaster response from the energy sector a story worth repeating If there’s a positive side to the devastating fire that razed Kindersley’s old hockey rink to the ground early in January, it’s got to be the important role the oil and gas industry plays in responding to local emergencies.

Just about every oil and gas explorer and producer in Alberta and Saskatchewan is required to have an emergency response plan or is hooked into one by virtue of their safety training and equipment.

In the case of the Kindersley arena, a sizeable army of oil and gas companies was on the contact list for the town of Kindersley’s emergency response plan.

Most of the conscripts rushed employees and equipment to the scene to help firefighters put out the flames and help save the new rink and curling facility from destruction.

Ironically, the arena complex is the normal rendezvous point for a Kindersley emergency but from all accounts, the entire firefighting operation was wellorganized under the direction of fire chief Ron Hope.

No one was injured and the coordinated effort kept the new complex virtually intact save for some fire, smoke and water damage.

Hope was assisted by 60 volunteer firefighters from seven area communities including Kindersley, Eston, Eatonia, Rosetown, Kerrobert, Acadia Valley and Oyen. An eighth truck was on its way from Unity when it was called off.

While the weather cooperated with light winds, it was the water trucks, backhoes, excavators and all types of equipment as well as specialists dispatched by local and area oil and gas companies and businesses on the call list that helped the firefighters save the day.

Together they maintained a steady flow of water

for pumpers if needed and fed water to a private fire truck that kept a spray of water and foam targeted on the firewall between the old rink and the new complex.

If these companies and organizations somehow needed any additional motivation to spring into action, the source could have been the rink and new complex itself – the focal point of recreation and social life for many small towns in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Maybe that explains why so much help poured in from surrounding communities too.

Coming to the rescue of a rink is like symbolically coming to the rescue of a way of life. The small town hockey and curling rink are just as iconic and essential to the quality of life as the grain elevator once was and the oil derrick is today.

When the rink did burn, some people were surprised and even envious to learn that a small town like Kindersley with a population of just 4,400 had two hockey rinks and curling facility.

That luxury might have something to do with the generosity and economic strength of the oil and gas economy.

During the boom in 2008, Estevan raised more than $7 million for its new arena through local donations from individuals and energy companies who know the value of having new arenas and curling rinks to draw families and employees.

A committee also secured $13 million from the federal and provincial governments, making the facility almost paid for before the sod turning.

No doubt that same spirit will lead Kindersley to rebuild its lost rink and keep the flame burning for the value of small town Saskatchewan.

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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Opinion A nuke would have been nice, but...

From the top of the pile Brian Zinchuk

Last fall, my wife and I bought a new truck.

The behemoth, or, as I like to call it, the Canyonero, after Marge Simpson’s giant SUV, is a big, powerful Ford F-150 SuperCrew. It was purchased with the intent of pulling the fifth wheel camper my parents graciously donated to us after they got a newer, bigger unit.

It’s a nice vehicle to have, with lots of room. The box came in handy at Christmas time, as did the 4x4 low range when we came across some blown-in gravel highway. But there are times when the large fuel bill and the monthly instalments make me yearn for the days when we didn’t have the additional vehicle payment. Could we have done without the truck? Probably. But it’s ours now, and we will be paying for it for the next several years.

The province of Saskatchewan went through a similar calculation this year with nuclear power. Bruce Power was seriously seeking to build a nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan, something big and powerful and capable of handling whatever needs we threw at it. They had even narrowed it down to Lloydminster, Prince Albert or the Battlefords as likely loca-

tions. Lloydminster, with its large industrial base and proximity to Fort McMurray, was the most obvious choice, especially since the project depended upon exporting power to be viable.

On Dec. 17, the province decided against the nuclear option, effectively killing Bruce Power’s proposal. Oh, sure, it might be open to more discussion in the future, but the net effect of the December decision was to kill nuclear power development in Saskatchewan for a generation. Surely nothing new will come up in the next10 years, at a minimum. That is, by the way, the amount of time it takes to go from first talking about it, to the first watt of power produced from a new nuclear plant.

Like my analogy of a truck purchase, the province thought about it for a long time. Could we afford it? Did we need it?

In April, 2009, the government announced the Future of Uranium in Saskatchewan Public Consultation Process. That process came back with a resounding “No”. Granted, it’s a lot easier to get people vocal about opposing something new than supporting it, it was a pretty clear indication that this would not be an easy ride.

Look at what nuclear meant for Ontario – yes, it powered their economy for decades, but when it came time to do maintenance on them in the 1990s, a huge chunk of the nuclear fleet was sidelined, and the cost to bring them back online was in the billions.

Ontario Hydro’s debt was enormous. The company would eventually be split up, with one of the results being the creation of Bruce Power. If everything had gone smoothly, the Bruce plant would still be in the hands of Ontario Hydro. As it stands, current costs

to restart two of the eight Bruce reactors is pegged at over $4 billion.

Even if it were privately owned, a nuclear plant in Saskatchewan would be hanging a huge millstone around our collective necks, kind of like a giant truck payment. Even if we’re not paying for it directly, we’ll be paying for it on our SaskPower bills. Our truck will be paid off in a few years. The nuclear plant would take decades.

By declining to go nuclear, the province has implicitly chosen the fossil fuel option. That’s because there are no other real options. Yes, we are doubling our wind capacity, but that can’t be used for baseload generation. Indeed, we’re building a fleet of gas turbines to backup the expanded wind option.

Solar simply isn’t going to cut it here, and any other alternative power, be it biomass or cogeneration, is not going to be big enough to supply our growing needs.

What we can expect down the road is continued coal development, especially if the Boundary Dam clean coal experiment works. More likely than not, there will be further natural gas generation. Anticipate baseload natural gas generation, not just peaking plants, in the future. It will mean another local market for Saskatchewan gas producers, more carbonfriendly than coal, and can be built in much less time and with much less headache than nuclear.

We may have dodged a bullet with this decision.

Proponents may mope, but in the years down the road, we’ll be thankful.

Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.

Encana steers lobby for natural gas highways With an oversupply of natural gas on the market keeping prices unprofitably low, EnCanca Corp. is leading the charge to ratchet up demand with an idea that will help Canada cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Encana is asking the federal government to commit $1 billion to kick start the development of compressed and liquid natural gas fueling stations and infrastructure beginning with the high traffic corridor from Windsor, Ont. to Quebec City, Que. The busy Edmonton to Vancouver corridor is also a suitable candidate for this timely project.

Encana is asking Ottawa to introduce tax incentives to trucking companies that convert their 18-wheelers from diesel to natural gas.

Encana’s lobbying is backed by the knowledge that all 50 U.S. states are offering a $32,000 U.S. tax credit to truckers who switch from diesel to the cheaper and more abundant natural gas.

The company is also reportedly working with Westport Innovations Inc., a maker of natural-gaspowered truck engines, and the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance to convince the Harper government to include the spending item in its spring budget.

South of the border, a U.S. industry group is working to convince Detroit auto makers to build natural gas-powered pickup trucks for corporate fleet vehicles.

Lee Side of Lloyd Geoff Lee

The quest in Canada is supported by natural gas distributor Enbridge, whose 812-vehicle natural gas fleet is the biggest in Canada.

Enbridge is apparently investigating whether it can provide some of the compression equipment and infrastructure needed to launch the first natural gas highway.

The move comes at a time when breakthroughs in fracturing dense rock have allowed gas to flow from new reservoirs and formations such as shale gas.

The over abundance of natural gas in North America – enough for the next 100 years by most accounts – has contributed to driving down prices from a high of $13.69/mcf in July 2008 to a low of $2.409 in September, 2009.

Prices have since rebounded to the $5 to $6 range but explorers, producers and distributors can

no longer rely on cold winters to further drive up the demand and prices for natural gas that has been traditionally used to heat homes and buildings.

Encana’s lobbying for “natural gas corridors” is backed by the fact natural gas-powered vehicles produce about one-third less gas emissions and less smog-producing pollutants that other vehicles.

That may appeal to the federal government as it works on cutting its greenhouse gas emissions and hitching its environment policies to the Obama administration as stated during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference held December, 2009.

In fact, prior to Copenhagen, Canada introduced proposed new regulations expected to be in place by July, 2010 that will cut greenhouse gas emissions in all new light cars and trucks over the 2011 to 2016 model years in sync with the emissions reduction targets of the United States.

The targets represent an approximate 20 per cent reduction compared to the new vehicle fleet that was sold in Canada in 2007.

Using suddenly abundant supplies of clean burning natural gas to fuel the trucking industry would help Canada further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate economic growth and help to a create a sustainable gas drilling, producing and distribution industry.

Let’s hope the Harper government shifts this green stimulus plan into first gear as quickly as possible.

PIPELINE NEWS INVITES OPPOSING VIEW POINTS. EDITORIALS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WELCOME. Email to: brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Quick reaction saves new rink ɺ Page A2 Hollands’ trailers hold 36 cubes of water and they were emptied every nine or 10 minutes feeding water into municipal pumpers and a fire truck from Pinceman Fire-Safety that provides emergency firefighting and safety services for oil companies.

“That fire truck was hooked to a four inch outlet on my trailers and spraying from our semi,” said Holland.

“It worked out pretty good. I changed all of my trailers to a four inch for fires. If you have anything other than four inch you don’t suck enough water for them.

“We stayed stationary and tied into the fire trucks and guys with water trucks kept bringing more water to fill us up. There were maybe 20 to 30 water trucks that kept coming to my water trucks and kept filling me.”

Bruce Penner, the district manager of Pinceman Fire-Safety spent just as much time reminiscing about the burned out hockey rink as he did recalling his

An excavator gets into the thick of things, trying to save what’s left of the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley.

Photo courtesy the Kinderley Clarion

company’s role in the blaze during his media interview but that’s understandable.

“Up to a couple of years ago, I played hockey there most of my life,” he said. “All of my minor hockey was played in Kindersley.

“There’s a lot of memorable stuff that was hanging on the walls about people who have passed on and friends of mine that played hockey

With the old rink a total loss, effort were made to save the rest of Kindersley’s West Central Events Centre, on the right.

Photo submitted by Gerry Ackerman

that were killed in accidents. It’s part of our heritage I guess.”

The arena fire was the first time his company had been called out to help the local fire department and he says it worked out well.

“We had six guys fighting the fire at the scene. They were spraying water on the wall between the two arenas to keep the firewall cool and douse the rubble in the old arena.”

“I helped out with the arrival of water trucks to fill our truck. The other fire trucks were pulling off of fire hydrants.

Extra water was needed because so much water was used.”

Foam was also sprayed on the fire and the firewall to keep flames from spreading to the new sports complex that suffered some fire, water and smoke damage.

Ironically, the provincial playdowns for the Tournament of Hearts bonspiel were being played when the fire broke out forcing the tournament to shift its final matches to nearby Eston.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and Hope says minor sports programs are suffering as a result. The complex is closed and barricaded until further notice.

“They will try to use some of the outdoor rinks in surrounding communities,” he said.

“The complex is a gathering point for the community year round.

The Chamber of Commerce holds its annual trade shows in those facilities, the grad in held there, the rodeo is held there – everything is held in those facilities.

It’s a huge loss.

“The insurance in-

dustry has been out and looked at it; the fire commissioner’s office has been out and looked at it. Everyone is absolutely amazed that we still have a structure standing.

“I am following through with all of the paperwork and the media interviews. It’s a story that needs to be out there.”

A big part of the story were Coleville companies such as Wrangler Tank Services and T.H. Vac Services and Fricken Fracken Water Hauling that dropped everything to rush water trucks to the fire scene.

“It always seems oil companies jump to the bat and help out,” said Tim Harris from T.H. Vac who sent two water trucks to the fire. Two of his vac trucks arrived later to suck water from water lines in the new rink and remove pooled water from the burned

out arena before it froze.

“Our water trucks were just tiny single axle water trucks,” said Harris. “Our water trucks are used to support our hydro vacs. We don’t haul water usually.

“Wrangler had a tandem and two semis and Fricken Fracken had a B train.

“We just filled up fire trucks. There were so many fire trucks there.

They had all of the fire hydrants all tied up. They wanted us to externally haul water to them. Every company was equal.

It was a get-it-done type thing.”

By the time Steve Sawchuk from Wrangler got to the fire, he says the main arena structure was already flattened but he could still see flames and counted close to 13 tank trucks feeding water to the Pinceman fire pumper.

“Basically one semi hooked on to the Pinceman fire truck and two other units kept pumping into that semi to keep it full,” he said.

“Fire crews were concentrated on where it joined on to the new building to keep that cool.”

Sawchuk says Wrangler hauls mostly produced fluids but he keeps the body job full of water – to fight fires for the Coleville fire department.

“I think Kindersley did a good job of getting the contacts out. It was about 10 a.m. when the fire alarm went off and by 10:30 they declared a state of emergency and by about 10:45 it was pretty well done.”

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A7

Copenhagen talks accomplished little ɺ Page A3 Deflated There were high hopes worldwide going into the Copenhagen talks, with a huge contingent of national leaders attending. The end result, however, didn’t amount to much.

“If you looked at going into Copenhagen, there were huge expectations of what was coming out,” Wilson said. Those expectations were for a global framework for a post-Kyoto period, a Kyoto II, as it were.

“There were expectations we would finally get something out of this meeting that would see carbon capture and storage recognized with the clean development mechanism process, that carbon capture and storage would be recognized and accepted as a legitimate mechanism for global emissions reductions and appropriate transfer of credits.

“At the end of Copenhagen, neither of those happened.”

On CCS, he said the process is still ongoing, and his colleagues in the field didn’t leave dejected.

Although there was nothing concrete to come out of it, there was a solid commitment to move forward.

The timing of Copenhagen was important, because the Kyoto process expires after 2012. To get things in place before that expiration, it needed to be done at Copenhagen, to allow individual governments to take the agreement back to their respective countries for ratification. In the end, the framework US President Barack Obama negotiated turned out to be a very short paper, according to Wilson. “It’s a very superficial framework, and it’s thrown back to the negotiators,” he explained.

“Otherwise you have a hiatus at the end of Kyoto,” he noted. “How do you penalize a country such as Canada when the US hasn’t ratified the agreement?

When one of the major players isn’t a member, it really took the teeth out of the agreement.”

When asked how many industrialized countries have met their existing Kyoto commitments, Wilson responded, “I don’t think any have.”

“When the US failed to ratify Kyoto, it made it a dead end.”

However, Kyoto has had an effect, he noted, with rate of carbon emissions not being as high as it would be otherwise, especially in Europe. Individual American states have also been working to implement intensity caps.

“My hat goes off to Alberta for putting up substantial dollars to address climate emissions,” he added.

So was Copenhagen a success or failure?

“Somewhere in the middle,” Wilson responded.

“We didn’t lose momentum completely, but the political leadership was unable to reach consensus.”

He said that failure reinforces the climate change denial camp.

The next meeting will be in Mexico City, in late 2010. Again, there will be big expectations, Wilson said, and he expects Prime Minister Harper will be there.

“I think he has to be.”

“I think you’re going to see a whole stack of world leaders at Mexico City,” Wilson predicted, adding the onus will be on the US, with Obama negotiating the framework. “There’s going to be an expectation on the US that they continue to shepherd that.”

After the frustrations of Copenhagen, will Wilson be booking tickets for Mexico City? Probably not.

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A8

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Steady growth for Estevan Meter see us having two or three more.”

Estevan Meter has three main areas of operation, each complimenting the other.

The first is shop repair, dealing with items like meters, valves, switches and pumps. They are a Saskatchewan Boiler Branch-approved relief valve repair shop.

The work includes all kinds of meter calibration – an important factor, when you realize meters determine how much a producer is going to get paid, or has to pay.

Martens noted, “Measurement The warehouse area for Estevan Meter is quite full, ranging from gaskets on of oil, water and gas is driven by acthe left, to Áame arrestors, air compressors, valves and meters. counting reasons, and is crucial to how money is apportioned.”

Estevan – It’s been steady growth 12,000 sq.-ft., and now have considAnd to ensure meters are properly in recent years for Estevan Meter, a lo- erably more lot size, should they need calibrated, the calibration tools must cally-owned instrumentation company, to expand further. Martens said they also be calibrated on a regular basis, and 2010 is looking like it’s going to were asked if they would be using all meeting government certification. be a busy one, according to president that space, and sure enough, they have.

Area number two is field instruDoug Martens.

“When we moved in here, we were uti- mentation services. It entails doing a Martens is one of three owners, lizing 3.5 offices. Now we use all six,” lot of the same things, but in the field. along with Dallas Fleck, who handles he explained.

They have eight trucks for that work.

They currently have around 25 emshop operations, and Reg Stephen, a “We employ some journeymen member of one of the founding fami- ployees. “We’ve had a very low turnover electricians. We have some dual-ticklies behind the company. rate that we’re very proud of. That’s eted guys with electrician and instruThe company moved to a new shop helped make our company strong, too.” mentation tech.”

The key has been to slowly bring on Imperial Avenue in November, One of the items they have to assist 2008, not far from their old facility on in good, quality people, as they were in field operations is a “portable liquid Devonian Street on Estevan’s east side. available. “Right now we are looking meter prover,” which Martens says is “We needed more space,” said Martens. for some individuals, but we’ll only not commonplace.

“We doubled our size.” hire qualified people. We won’t sacrifice They do PLC and They went from 6,000 sq.-ft. to quality. Probably in the next year I can SCADA programming,

as well as scheduled preventative maintenance. You’ll see Estevan Meter’s handiwork on items like pumpjacks, test separators, and free water knockouts.

In the warehouse, there’s a stack of flame arrestor systems. “We do combustion systems,” Martens said, including the maintenance and optimization of those systems. “We’re able to service and supply CSA B149.3 spec equipment.

“We’re not only strong on the combustion, but on the electrical and instrumentation. We have a good understanding of the whole process. It’s worked out good for us.”

The third line is the warehouse, which supplies a lot of specialty items, particularly for vessel turnarounds. It’s an area they focus on. “We supply the gaskets, sacrificial anodes, water siphons, stacks, all the instrumentation and controls,” Martens explained.

East of the office area is the wellstocked warehouse, with items like gaskets, flame arrestor systems, valves, and a substantial number of large number of air compressors. Most of those air compressors are already spoken for, according to Martens. They’re used to operate air-actuated valves. ɸ Page A9

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

New test stand Éş Page A8 Further to the east is the shop area, where a new relief valve test stand has recently been installed. It allows tests to be documented by computer, as opposed to manually recorded. “A year ago, we would read a gauge and record it,â€? Martens said. The automation is an improvement in quality assurance.

The test stand, with its large “Jâ€?-shaped accumulator, is in its own room behind a heavy door and plenty of insulation. That’s because testing can get quite loud. In the old facility, they used to have an alarm, warning sta to put on ear protection, before it would go o. The old test stand was in the main shop area in their previous facility. “We’re working on having a client web portal, with access to invoices online and test reports,â€? Martens said.

While one worker can be seen servicing an actuator, another is calibrating an older-style dry ow gas meter chart recorder, the type that use spinning disks to record data. The new designs are electronic, and can transmit their data either through wires or wirelessly.

Martens said they are expecting a busier year. He said 2010 is starting o like it is going to be similar to 2008.

A9

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Estevan Meter shop tech Mike Long calibrates a dry Ă ow gas meter.

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Brennan Wagner works on a valve actuator that runs on compressed air.

A10

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Three honoured by Estevan OTS

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – The Estevan Oilfield Technical Society honoured three people with lifetime achievement awards on Jan. 19.

Art Wrubleski, Les Avery and Jim Morgan were presented with awards for lifetime achievement. Morgan’s was a posthumous honour.

Art Wrubleski There’s a lot of core sitting in the core repository in Regina, thanks to Art Wrubleski.

Greg Kallis, Estevan OTS president, described Wrubleski’s career spent in the coring business. After a few years on the drilling rigs, he set up Wrubleski Coring in Gull Lake in 1955. In 1960 he packed up his family, trailer and business and moved to Estevan.

In 1954, he married Alice Oswald.

They would have five children. She passed away in 1983.

He would eventually merge with another company and form A & A Coring in 1965.

In the 1970s he expanded into power tongs and drill stem testing.

In the early 1970s, Bill 42 created a crash in the local business, so he went east in 1976, to Sussex, New Brunswick.

There he did coring for IMC. Many of those cores were 2,000-ft. in length.

He retired in 1998. At that point, he sold off the assets of the business.

The company peaked at 15 employees.

He was active with the local Elks for over 30 years. He won the OTS golf tournament for four consecutive years, from 1976-79. He was active with the OTS golf tournaments and bonspiels, and held the position of president of the Estevan curling club. He also coached baseball.

Wrubleski thanked his family, saying, “I am very proud of them.”

He also thanked the OTS, and

Les Avery, left, and Art Wrubleski accept their lifetime achievement awards from the Estevan OilÀeld Technical Society on Jan. 19.

said he had a rewarding career. “I even squeezed in time for a couple hole-inones.”

Les Avery Les Avery spent most of his career in production, first as a battery operator, then as a production foreman and then production superintendent. He was employee No. 90 for Dome Petroleum, a company that would rise to 4,500 staff before eventually being bought out. At that point, Avery was almost number 1 in seniority within the company.

Avery worked for Dome’s successor companies, Amoco, North Rock Resources, Star Tech Energy and finally Arc Resources before retiring in 2004. In 2003, he was named Southeast Saskatchewan Oilman of the Year.

An active OTS member, he even won one of the organization’s curling bonspiels.

In making the presentation, Tom Copeland said, “Les has been a shining example of how to balance family and work.”

When not working in the patch,

OTS executive, and president for several years. He served on committees and volunteered at functions. “He was an instrumental part of keeping those social events we enjoy alive,” Wilson said.

The OTS sold 194 tickets to the event, and had a short charity auction.

All proceeds from the event went to support the OTS scholarship fund, which, according to organizer Jim Wilson, now has $70,000 in it. However, with low interest rates, they still need to build it up some more to make it self-sustaining. Thirteen scholarships have been given out in recent years.

This year’s recipient was Spencer Kaip, of Estevan, who is attending the engineering program at the University of Saskatchewan.

It’s the seventh year of handing out lifetime achievement awards, and 10th year for scholarships.

Watch for detailed features on both Wrubleski and Avery in coming editions of Pipeline News as part of our new pioneers regular feature.

Avery built a succession of homes – 11 since 1982. Upon retirement, he worked on the construction of the new clubhouse at Estevan’s Woodlawn Golf Course.

Avery responded by saying, “I feel very honoured for being selected.”

He said there were a lot of people more deserving, but “You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

He thanked the OTS and his wife Betty.

With forty-some years in the patch, he said, “There were a lot of people that put up with me, and mentored me.” He thanked the southeast Saskatchewan oilpatch for giving him a career. “I can look back with fond memories.”

Jim Morgan Jim Morgan’s nomination was not so much a matter of if, but when, according to Jim Wilson, who made the presentation. “He was one of those people you never wondered what he was thinking. He was to the point and Ken Sholter auctions off a paintlike to keep everyone around him on ing in support of the Estevan OTS scholarship program on Jan. 19. their toes.”

Photo by Brian Zinchuk He was an active member of the

Bonspiel season is on Oilmen and oilwomen are trading in their coveralls for curling brooms with a number of oilmen’s bonspiels underway. Oxbow will be holding their oilman bonspiel Feb. 12-14. Richard Lamontagne is the contact, and can be reached at 306-483-7897. “We try for 32, but we always get 24,” he said of the number of expected teams.

The Swift Current Oilmen’s Bonspiel is to be held on Feb. 19-20 at the Swift Current I-Plex.

It will be a skins format, according to Ron Eichel, one of the organizers.

The first 24 teams will be entered. Entry fee is $260 and entries are due Feb. 12. Anyone who is interested can call Ron Eichel at Can-Am Geomatics at 306-773-3333 or Cam Hyswick at National Oilwell Varco at 306-773-5575.

Leanne Fleck is one of the organizers of the Lampman bonspiel. It will occur March 5-7. As for the number of teams, Fleck said, “Ideally, 32, but we’re happy with whatever we get, usually 24.”

The Lampman event is a mixed one, requiring at least one woman per team. Fleck can be

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The season typically wraps up with the big Estevan OTS Bonspiel.

The dates this year are March 25-28. More details will be available on the Estevan OTS website, according to Greg Kallis, OTS president. It can be found at estevanots.com.

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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A12

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

If you’re from Storthoaks, you’ve probably worked the rigs Storthoaks – It’s not all that common for a 33-year-old to get into municipal politics, but directional driller Sydney Chicoine ran for mayor of the Village of Storthoaks last fall against the incumbent and won. “I’d been approached by one of the council members,” he explained. “What more can you do than run against what I thought wasn’t right?”

Speaking from a rig south of Frobisher, where he was working with Phoenix Technology Services, Chicoine recounted his reasons for getting into politics.

He took issue with the idea of adding an expensive water filtration system to the village’s waterworks, when he felt it already had very high quality water. He also didn’t like the sand seal job done on the commu-

nity’s roadways recently, feeling it wasn’t a good investment.

Now he heads the village council, made up of four councillors and a mayor. The village has about 100 people, according to Chicoine.

“There’s lots of young families in town, with young kids,” he said, citing a need for some younger representation. ɸ Page A13

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A13

Oilpatch has played a major part in the lives of many in the Storthoaks area ɺ Page A12 Most of that younger population works in the oilpatch, and on drilling rigs, in particular. There’s a definite reason for that – Chicoine’s father, Brian, has run Big Sky Drilling, based in Oxbow and now part of Ensign, for many years. Brian has made it a habit of hiring local people.

“When it was Big Sky, everyone worked for Big Sky,” Chicoine recalled.

Plus, there weren’t a lot of other options.

“Family farms are dying out. What better thing to do than work in the oilpatch, where it’s pretty easy money?” Sydney said.

Most of his friends have gone down that path, working their way up to the point where a substantial number are now drillers or toolpushes. And when they need a roughneck, where’s the most obvious place to look – around home.

That way, they all travel together, and can take turns driving. Typically, the crews are home every day.

Of the local people, he says they see roughnecks working eight hours a day, spending time with their families.

Working long hours in other oilpatch jobs didn’t seem as appealing.

Chicoine noted that housing has been “next to nothing,” for price. His sister, Carolyn, who owns the local bar, bought a house for $5,000 a few years ago.

“It’s such a small town, all our wives hung out together,” Chicoine said. The rink is the main gathering place.

Actually, that’s about all there is in the small community, according to its mayor. “The rink, the bar, the Case dealership – not much else.”

There is also a mechanic, a hair dresser, and a drop-in centre.

The school closed several years ago, and children are bussed to either Redvers, Carnduff or Carievale.

Out on Eagle Drilling Services’ Rig 6, you’ll find Brad Henrion working as a driller, along with O’Neil Carri-

“

I used to drill, and I got my hand cut off.

They sewed it back on.

-O’Neil Carriere

ere, who’s driving the vac wagon tractor. Both have Storthoaks roots.

Henrion lives there, while Carriere lived at Storthoaks for 16 years before moving to Redvers a few years ago.

“I used to drill, and I got my hand cut off. They sewed it back on,” Carriere said, showing the scar. That put an end to his drilling days, but after several years off, last fall he got back at it, spreading mud. “I was born on a farm two miles north of Storthoaks.”

He worked at a Pioneer Grain in Neudorf,

and, as he put it, “A guy cornered me and asked if I wanted a roughnecking job. With four times the pay, I couldn’t refuse with three young kids.”

“What else is there to do? If you didn’t farm, you worked rigs,” he said.

Henrion said, “I bought an acreage just outside of Storthoaks. I pasture bulls for a guy, and work rigs, help other farmers.”

Henrion has spent 16 years on the rigs, six drilling. Ten of those years were with Big Sky. He then drilled and was

”

a relief push for Advance for four years before joining Eagle Drilling, sign-

ing on with their newest rig, Rig 6. He’s not married, but he has two dogs.

His father is the RM of Storthoaks foreman.

“I drive home for everything. I drove to Radville for four years, two hours and 15 minutes one way. You gotta get back and do chores.”

Carriere and Henrion worked together on the same crew for three years. “Felt like an eternity,” Carriere joked, cracking up. “We had five guys from Storthoaks,” he added, talking about how they would drive out together each day from the Storthoaks home base.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Eagle Drilling Services tops a million man-hours without lost-time accident Carlyle – Eagle Drilling Services Ltd. in five years has reached a major milestone – one million man-hours without a lost

time accident (LTA).

The Carlyle-based company operates a fleet of six drilling rigs, working in southeast Sas-

katchewan and southwest Manitoba. Barring any incidents after press time, they will have reached that point before the end of January.

“For me, honestly, it’s a huge milestone,” said Derrick Big Eagle, president and general manager. “It all falls Roughneck Kris Schmidt, left, Roughneck T.J. McIntyre, and motorman Andrew Bevan, work on the Áoor of Eagle Drilling Services Rig 6, near Stoughton.

into place from how we wanted the company to be – new technology, safety driven.”

He said they wanted to draw the elite of the people. “Look at what it turned out to be, the perfect fit.”

“That’s something I’ve never heard of before, down in southeast Saskatchewan, anyway,” he said of the million man-hours LTA-free.

“Our guys contributed to this. Hats off to each person who works

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with Eagle Drilling and around it,” he said, referring to service companies who do things like cementing and tongs.

“It’s our people that enforce the rules. Rules are rules, and we follow the rules. Obviously, it shows.”

“It’s a high risk job - it is and it isn’t. Everything is monitored so well, it is a safe, secure occupation.”

Lloyd Bendtsen, field superintendent and safety co-ordinator, echoed the sentiment. “Basically it’s a little bit of good management, good equipment in place, and working with excellent people.”

His dual role as field superintendent and safe-

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ty co-ordinator is not a common one. Bendtsen said that helps in applying common sense to situations, having spent 20 years working his way up. “We know what works and how to apply it so everyone understands it.”

“This all started right from day one, when Derrick and Harvey Turcotte put these rigs together,” he said, pointing out their userfriendly nature. Turcotte is the company’s other field superintendent.

“Probably 70 per cent of all incidents is handling tubulars,” he explained. All Eagle rigs have a hydraulic catwalk, minimizing worker handling of the tubulars.

“You’re not touching it, as opposed to the old way.”

A climate-controlled doghouse with a driller slide-out means the driller is working in comfort.

“The man you’ve got running the equipment isn’t thinking how cold he is,” Bendtsen said.

The mud tanks are enclosed, meaning heat come up through the drilling floor, the men out there are warm. With a clearer head, “They’re not thinking of how cold their hands and feet are, they’re thinking about the task at hand.”

“Safety in today’s industry is at the forefront of ‘sellability.’ There’ a lot of companies that won’t touch you if you have LTAs,” Bendtsen concluded.

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A15

Saskatchewan drilling surges Saskatchewan’s drilling rig count by Jan. 19 was much higher than the same time in both 2009 and 2008, according to Nickle’s Rig Locator.

On that day, Saskatchewan had 65 per cent of its drilling rig fleet working, with 74 of 113 rigs active.

Alberta roared back to life after Christmas,

with 64 per cent of its fleet working. That accounted for 355 of 558 rigs at work. Most of 2009 saw just half of that number at work in Alberta.

British Columbia has a very similar-size fleet compared to Saskatchewan, with 119 drilling rigs. They had 93 of those rigs, or 78 per cent, active.

Manitoba’s utilization came in at nine of 13 rigs, for 69 per cent.

Only British Columbia is down on its rig count, compared to the same week last year, but

not by much The total utilization rate for Western Canada was 66 per cent. That’s way above predictions from only a few months ago, indeed, better by more than half. Back on Oct. 20, 2009, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) forecast a utilization rate of 40 per cent, or 320 active

rigs of a fleet of 800 for Western Canada during the first quarter of 2010.

Alberta alone has now exceeded that number.

CAODC publishes forecasts three times a year, according to its website. The Oct. 20 forecast was based on assumptions of WTI: $70/bbl (USD), AECO: $5.50/Mcf (CDN) 9.3 days/well.

Crescent Point had three rigs in a row drilling southwest of Stoughton on Jan. 12. From left, they are Ensign Big Sky 40, Eagle Drilling Rig 6, and Advance Rig 9. Saskatchewan’s active drilling Áeet in January, 2010, easily outpaced the same month over the previous two years.

A16

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Make sure your brakes aren’t frozen

Snow makes pipes particularly precarious to stand on in winter. Here a crew with L & C Trucking Partnership separate pipes from the neat stacks they are stored in.

Don Cameron adds scrap wood to a burning barrel. It was a welcome addition to the L & C Trucking yard in Estevan, on one of coldest days in December.

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our shop, and a lot of our trucks have to sit outside,” he said.

“We keep as much as we can inside. We’ve got three shops, but they are all full. It’s just a space issue.”

For trucks that end up outside, they have preheaters installed. “The problem is, it doesn’t warm up the rest of the iron,” he explained.

The company operates 25 power units, including 11 pickers. They also have three one tonnes and a number of loaders.

“If you get moisture in them, you have issues with the brake system,” Benning said.

“It usually happens at night. Your brakes are warm. You dynamite them (taking the air away so the spring engages), and the brake pads freeze to the drums.”

Brakes freezing are a constant annoyance.

During a cold snap in December, a loader could be seen dragging a trailer into the shop to thaw the brakes.

“A lot of times you get in there with a bar or hammer, and if that doesn’t work, you get under there with a torch.

“Every morning, you have to check them, otherwise you go half a mile down the road, and you need new tires.”

“The pickers work a little slower. You have to warm it up a bit before using it.”

Every truck carries chains, but Benning says they are more important in the mud than the cold.

“Sometimes you need them to get up the hills.” ɸ Page A17

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A17

Trucking in winter Adam Blakeney is not on Àre, but rather warming up near a burning barrel at L & C Trucking in Estevan. It was so cold that December. 8 morning, exposed Áesh would freeze in just a few minutes.

ɺ Page A16 Do they every shut down due to cold weather?

Not directly.

“We don’t, but the rigs do, so we shut down because of that,” Benning said.

“The rig calls for it, they get it.”

There is a caveat. When visibility is reduced to zero, it’s time to pull over. “If in a whiteout, they pull over, call in, and are usually told to get to a safe spot,” Blair Hunter, another one of the owners, added.

The bulk of their hauling is to drilling rigs or completions with the service rigs. “The majority of the work we do is handling pipe.”

In that regard, snow produces quite a challenge for handling pipe. It makes it hard to roll on the racks, as well as making it quite slippery, too. “It gets interesting to handle,” he described.

Hunter said, “What we do in the cold weather is common sense. Take your time; make sure everyone stays warm, but not so warm that you don’t want to go back to work.

“Most guys that come here have worked in the cold, and know what is required.”

This winter the company put a burning barrel in the back yard, where scrap lumber is used to keep the yard hands warm. “The boys kind of enjoy it,” Benning said.

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A18

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Having the Courage to diversify Courage OilÀeld services has family as its management core, headed by Lorne Bremner, second from right, his daughter Amanda Fitzpatrick, on the right, and son Ryan Bremner, second from the left. Dave McLeod, who is not a member of the family, recently joined the Oxbow company, where he looks after sales.

Oxbow – Courage Oilfield Services Ltd. of Oxbow has been establishing itself into new areas in recent years, ex-

panding beyond their established rod rig business.

The company is family run. Lorne Bremner is the head. He has a partial partner in the business, Lloyd Thompson. Daughter Amanda Fitzpatrick does administration and son Ryan Bremner is establishing a presence in Regina.

Indeed, right now Ryan’s in the process of establishing a hot shot service in Regina, using a truck and trailer the company already had in its

fleet. He recently moved from Oxbow to Regina, taking a hydrovac with him. That vac unit is seeing more use back home now, so the hot shot will fill the void.

The company has run rod rigs and flushbys for several years. They started with a flushby, but there isn’t a lot of sand work in southeast Saskatchewan. “We just do rod work with it,” Lorne said.

“We fish parted rods, do rod changes and pump changes.” ɸ Page A19

Dave McLeod (left) is putting a lot of kilometres on his truck, left, promoting Courage OilÀeld Services Ltd. Here, he’s talking to a consultant on a pipeline project, where the company has a hydrovac at work.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A19

Finding ways to expand ɺ Page A18 The company was up to four rigs, but now has two – a single and a double.

Diversifying their services, the company picked up a steamer in the fall of 2008. “We thought we should expand. We were limited in what we were doing. We wanted to expand to be a more full-service company,” Lorne said. “It had slowed down, so we thought we’d diversify.”

Since then, Courage has acquired a tri-drive body job vac truck combo unit, and a hydrovac.

Some employees have been redeployed, while others have been added. Men who worked on rod rigs can now be found on the vac truck.

The company employs 16 people. “We usually find who we want. We’re pretty good to work for,” Lorne said.

“We’re happy, for starting out with new services. We were too busy to do sales and maintenance. We want-

ed a sales presence.”

Enter Dave McLeod, who grew up in the patch south of Weyburn, and has worked in it since high school.

“Long story short, Courage needed to expand,” noted McLeod, who has recently joined the company to give it a dedicated sales presence.

“Now you’ve got all these new guys coming in from Manitoba, Alberta, and B.C. doing sales in Saskatchewan.”

As a result, McLeod is putting on a lot of kilometres on his truck.

“On a good day, I usually put 800 to 1,000 kilometres a day.”

A day?

“A day,” he reiterated.

It can be tough to crack into a market, according to McLeod. You need to get in the door.

“All of a sudden, they might like you.”

However, there are a lot of other people trying to get into the same door.

He spoke to one person who said had already had 65 sales calls since 7 a.m. that day. It was noon.

“If you’re after service work, there’s always service work. But new work, that’s different.”

One of the areas McLeod is working on is establishing branding for the company – getting its name out there.

The new hotshot service is looking to service shops in Regina who need to run things out to the potash mines, as one example. “We’ll obviously do oilfield,” Lorne said.

Ryan noted, “We’re hoping to move to a bigger unit,” in reference to the hotshot truck.

McLeod said they are looking at other opportunities, such as finding purposes for the steamer in the off season.

“We plan on expanding, probably doubling up on some existing equipment,” Lorne said.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Southern Saskatchewan gains wings Estevan – Southern Saskatchewan has gained scheduled air service in recent months, with Swanberg Air Inc. launching flights to Swift Current and Regina on Nov. 2, 2009, and adding Estevan on Jan.4, 2010.

The Calgary and Grand Prairie-based air carrier is catering to the general public and business clientele, according to general manager Rich Wilde, who spoke with Pipeline News on Jan. 7 from Calgary.

“We’re catering to everybody, I guess,” he said, but noted it is primarily the business traveller. “We think the oil business connections will go in Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Estevan. Holiday trav-

ellers may want to use it to connect to flights in Regina or Calgary.”

The southern Saskatchewan route originates in Grande Prairie, and returns the same way. It runs from Grande Prairie, to Red Deer, and then Calgary.

From Calgary, it makes stops in Swift Current, Regina and Estevan before turning around and heading back. However, if there are no scheduled passengers at a particular location, say, Swift Current, then the flight will overfly that location, shortening the trip by about 20 minutes. From Calgary to Estevan, it takes about 2.5 to 3 hours. “We only stop if there is a passenger there to be picked up or dropped off,” Wilde

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However, they will stop at a location even if there is only one passenger booked there, according to Wilde. “If one passenger books, we’ll be there.”

“We fly into Estevan four days a week, every weekday except Wednesday.”

Doing so allows travellers to plan for overnighters, one-day or multiple-day stays. Eventually they may expand to five day a week service.

Prior to expanding into Saskatchewan, the bulk of their flying was along the Alberta foothills, as far as Fort St. John, B.C. and Fort Nelson, B.C. The airline has maintenance facilities in Calgary and Grande Prairie, with hanger space in Regina.

Swanberg Air has seven aircrafts, including four British Aerospace Jetstream 31 twin turboprops, two seven passenger Navaho twin props, and a 19-passenger Bombardier Challenger business jet. The Jetstreams will be used on the southern Saskatchewan route.

The plane is capable of handling up to 19 passengers, but they have removed a row of seats to give clients more leg room. “We have it configured for 14 passengers,” Wilde explained.

The plane is equipped with a cargo pod, and can handle luggage like hockey bags, skis or golf clubs.

The Challenger is used for charter service.

Pipeline News chatted with their first passenger to and from Estevan on Dec. 7. He declined to give his name, but said that he was involved with setting up a company locally. He had flown in from Red Deer on the first flight into southeast Saskatchewan. ɸ Page A21

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A21

Swanberg Air taxis in on its second trip into Estevan, occurring on Jan. 7.

Swanberg Air lands in southeast Saskatchewan ɺ Page A20 “I’ll be out here three or four times a year. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll probably fly,” he said. “It’s definitely shorter.”

Asked how he knew about flying with Swanberg, he said, “I knew it was coming. I checked the website. It’s nice to have that option.”

He had flown with the carrier about a dozen times before.

The plane landed on a very cold day, with wind chill warnings issued. They refuelled, they pilots did some quick paperwork on the ground, and soon had the airplane aloft again.

They were late arriving, however.

Pilot Tony Janssen was in the air force

for two years, while copilot Barry Murphy is a reservist with the navy when he’s not flying, having served on the Kingston-class patrol vessels.

“It’s a very nice airport, excellent for the size of the area,” noted Janssen. “Swift Current is good, too. We’re kind of the first ones into these areas, with the

growing economy.”

Jonathon Hotte handles flight services at the Estevan Municipal Airport, and took care of the refuelling on the frigid January afternoon, dressed in Helly Hansen cold weather gear. “I think it’s good.

It connects us with other places, otherwise you have to drive two hours to Regina,” he said.

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A22

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Packers Plus expands its shop in Estevan

In the foreground are Packers Plus frac ports, while packers can be seen standing in the background. This is the new area of the recently expanded Estevan shop.

Estevan – Packers Plus has expanded their Estevan shop at the tail end of 2009, allowing the company to have more interior room for their hardware.

“We added another 100 feet. We extended the whole shop,” said Rob Peloquin, who has been with Packers Plus in Estevan ever since they started operations there. He handles field sales.

“We have two different types of systems – 3.5 inch and 4.5 inch. We added it so we can stock more of both sizes,” he explained.

While the building has expanded, there’s not really a need to expand the personnel, according to Peloquin. That’s because they’ve done a fair bit of that already in recent years. “We’ve gone from five years ago, when we had five people here, to

now. We have 42 people at this point in time,” he said.

That number includes office personnel, shop and field techs.

“We stayed fairly steady through the slow period,” he said. Now, the company is very busy, especially with the transition between Petrobank and TriStar. “It created more work for us,” he explained.

“Petrobank was the one that gave us our shot.”

Indeed the company, which has become PetroBakken in the southeast, is their largest client, accounting for about half of their business in the region.

“We should be able to handle it with our staff,” he said.

“There’s other customers that want to do StacFrac since Petrobank started it,” Peloquin added.

The company has made headlines recently with its ability to have large

numbers of frac stages on one lateral. “When you go to a 4.5 inch liner, you can go to those 20-odd stages,” according to Peloquin.

“With the newer technology, we can do over 40 stages on one lateral.”

That is dependent on a 1/8 inch variance in the diameter of frac ball sizes.

“Our norm is now 11 stages and up. It used to be eight stages all the time.

“Everything with our 3.5 inch system is built here, in Estevan. Fourand-a-half is built in Edmonton,” according to Peloquin.

Awards Packers Plus picked up a number of awards at the end of 2009. In November it was named the Oilweek Supplier of the Year, as well as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Canada.

In December, the Financial Post Magazine named the company its National Winner – Entrepreneur of the Year.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Carson Energy women pose semi-nude for cancer

This fundraising calendar of Carson Energy Service employees has been selling like hotcakes.

Lampman – It’s not easy to come up with good fundraisers for the annual Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life, but the women of Carson Energy Services have come up with a big hit.

It’s called “Carson Energy Services Uncovered – Colors of Cancer Calendar.”

Becky Pittman, an accounts payable clerk with the Lampman-based company was the instigator behind the project.

She was inspired by the British movie Calendar Girls.

“About 16 women in the office got together and put together a 14-month calendar,” Pittman told Pipeline News. Fifteen were models, and the last, Diedre Mack, is a photographer who also works at Carson.

All the models came from the administrative or environmental departments of Carson’s Lampman location.

The women may be in the buff, but it’s not terribly revealing. “We have props strategically placed,” Pittman explained.

Each month features a different colour often associated with a particular form of cancer. Pink for instance, is well known for breast cancer, while purple is affiliated with pancreatic cancer. There’s also a quote each month, either from the model, or one she selected.

“We’ve all been affected one way or another. Our October model is a breast cancer survivor,” Pittman said.

The idea was cooked up in late October, and

the first shoot took place soon thereafter, on Nov. 7. The calendar was ready

by Dec. 15.

The initial plan was to print 1,000, but that was expanded to 1,500 based on high demand.

By mid-January, they had sold roughly threequarters of the print run, at $20 a pop. If they sell out, the gross take will be $30,000. All proceeds are going to the Estevan Relay for Life, which will take place on June 12, 2010.

“If we sell them all, we’ll raise a lot of money,” Pittman said.

Last year the Carson Cancer Crusher Team was the top fundraiser per team, according to Pittman.

There were several sponsors, with Carson Energy Services being the main one. Calendars are available at all Carsons locations in Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as other retailers in the southeast.

“We have been well supported by the community,” Pittman says, noting Arcola, Stoughton, Estevan and Lampman as examples.

“It was a really good bonding experience. It really pushed the boundaries for all,” Pittman said.

A23

Energy Training Institute - Safety Classes • All classes begin at 8:30 am unless otherwise stated Confined Space Estevan – Feb 18 Weyburn – Feb 3 Assiniboia – Feb 10

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A24

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

RM of Storthoaks sees activity all over „ By Brian Zinchuk Storthoaks – The Rural Municipality of Storthoaks No. 31 has seen a substantial increase in drilling in the past four years, and now

two-thirds of its revenue is dependent on oil.

However, with the beneďŹ ts have come some negatives, and the RM is working hard to make sure its roads survive the growth in the oilpatch.

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That’s according to Reeve Jim Lorette and RM foreman Marcel Henrion, who Pipeline News met with on Jan. 12. “It’s getting larger all the time,� Lorette said. “Right now, 65 per cent of our revenue is from oil.� “But so is 95 per cent of the damage,� added Henrion.

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Jim Lorette, reeve, and Marcel Henrion, foreman, share a laugh in the RM of Storthoaks shop.

It has been a learning experience, according to Lorette. They had some new companies come in and try to do things on their own, such as neglecting to get permission to use certain road allowances. They’ve had problems with big

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One rig move can wreck a road in no time at,� according to Henrion.

A lot of the municipality’s back roads date back to the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Lorette said there are now B-trains running on roads that were once buggy trails.

They note that the infrastructure was there before the oilpatch arrived.

Bylaws have been put into place to ensure there’s written approvals before work like building a lease road or an approach to a road allowance is done. They’ve worked with neighbouring RMs to coordinate these eorts. “Alida helped us a lot,â€? Lorette noted. ɸ Page A25

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messes being left behind. “We’ve had to hire another grader operator to have one man freer to watch over the oil companies,� Lorette explained.

However, those days are behind them. “Right now, we have a good relationship with all the oil companies,� Lorette said.

That “freer� man is Henrion, who now spends a good portion of his time keeping an eye on things. “Before, we used to chase them around. Now they call us,� stated Lorette.

Tanker trucks run 24/7, and oil rigs get moved around, the pair said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or shining.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A25

Oilpatch and farm drive the local economy ɺ Page A24 How often do they say “No?” “We used to,” Henrion said, but relations have since improved.

Two areas of the RM of Storthoaks in particular are seeing the most activity – the northeast corner, where they are drilling mostly in the Bakken formation, and the southwest corner, where the Tilston is more prevalent. Henrion noted there were three drilling rigs active in the RM on that very day.

The RM of Storthoaks is right up against the Manitoba border, and is the first of the second row of RMs going from south to north. Directly to their south is RM No. 1.

Just across the border and a little to the north is the Sinclair field, Manitoba’s hot drilling play.

PetroBakken, Crescent Point, Penn West, Spectrum and High Rock are the most active players in the RM. “Those are the ones that are really given ‘er,” said Henrion.

The oilpatch is a major player in the economy of the RM, and the village of Storthoaks. Asked about where people work, Lorette replied, “I would say the biggest percentage is oilpatch, then farming.”

Indeed, Lorette figures about two thirds of the people work in the patch in some manner. It’s a long

ways between farms these days, but even then, a lot of farmers will put a blade on their tractor and clear snow.

There are lots of drilling and service rig hands, contractors, support staff and truckers. Some of those truckers work for Three Star out of Alida, or Spearing Service Ltd. out of Oxbow. Plains is another important employer. Many are independent operators.

“There’s a lot of younger people here. Otherwise, they would be gone,” Lorette said.

Henrion lists off a number of family members, including, “My two boys, two son-in-laws – all four are on the rigs.”

Indeed, later that evening, Pipeline News encountered Brad Henrion, one of those sons, as he was drilling for Eagle Drilling Services.

The hotel has reopened, and is run by a former rig hand, Caroline Chicoine. Appropriately enough, the bar is known as the Dog House.

Things are likely going to stay busy for the RM of Storthoaks this year. “It’s very positive for drilling,” Henrion said. Ther was a lot of seismic done here before Christmas.”

Lorette anticipates work will happen on the gas collection side. “They’re going to have to do something with it,” he concluded.

This densely drilled Àeld can be found in the northeast corner of the RM of Storthoaks, south of Antler. A rig was seen drilling just a mile or so down the road.

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A26

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

The big guy from Big Sky Oxbow – The message on his cellphone goes something like this, “You’ve reached the big guy, from Big Sky...”

And that would be about right.

A barrel-chested man, Brian Chicoine is the general manager of Big Sky Drilling, a division of Ensign Energy Services Inc. He’s been in that position for quite a while now, including back when Oxbowbased Big Sky was an independent operation. At the time, he was a minority owner.

Chicoine hails from Storthoaks, and it’s probably fair to say he’s had a sizeable impact on the community. “I’m on the same spot where I was hatched,” he said of his farm, a couple miles northeast of the village. It was his father’s farm, and his grandfather’s before that.

“I’ve got some cows. I farm about 300 acres,” he said.

He’s been active in the patch for 33 years, but now at the age of 54, Chicoine has pegged a day when he’s getting out.

He started at the bottom, in Medicine Hat, at the Suffield Block. At night, he could see the army exercises nearby. “Didn’t make much money that winter, but sure drank a lot,” he said with a wide smile.

Over the years he worked his way up to driller, then toolpush, field supervisor and part owner.

He moved back to Storthoaks and went to work on Westburn Drilling Rig 35. In the early 80s he was at work with Bird Drilling at Waskada. “Then it went broke. It changed to Viper Drilling, same rig.”

“Then one day Rick Hayward phoned me and asked if I wanted to work for Big Sky Drilling-26 years ago. He started Big Sky.” Chicoine drilled for a couple years, then pushed for five. Next he was field supervisor followed by an office job that he’s held ever since.

“When I was field supervisor, we had four rigs.

He comes up to me one day and asks if I want to buy into these rigs,” Chicoine recounted.

His response?

“I don’t have any money.”

Hayward offered a percentage of ownership for work done. “There were a lot of days and nights I slept in my pickup. When the phone rang at two in the morning, you were on the road,” according to Chicoine.

“I owned 10 per cent in the end.”

Ensign bought out the company in November, 2003. “I do remember that day,” he says, having cashed out. He stayed on as general manager.

When Ensign bought the company, Big Sky had eight rigs, and Ensign had 12 in the area. Now they operate 24, based at Oxbow.

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Brian Chicoine has had a major impact on his home town of Storthoaks, hiring locally.

About half the people in Storthoaks have worked for Big Sky at one time, he says. Being local, he wanted to hire local. “Big Sky’s trained a lot of guys in southeast Saskatchewan,” he said.

Besides having a substantial drilling company nearby, Storthoaks also benefitted from having some houses for cheap. Real cheap.

“I paid more money for a hockey sweater for charity than my daughter did for a house,” he said.

That purchase was made several years ago. Word got around that houses were cheap, and now there’re pretty much full up.

He’s only got a few months left in his job, however. He will retire on “10/10/10,” he said.

“I turn 55 on the ninth, and I ain’t going in on the 10th,” he forecasted.

So what will he do on Oct. 11?

Chicoine says he doesn’t know yet. “It won’t be oilfield related, put it that way,” he said, smiling.

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A28

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Warm up your hydraulics Estevan – If hydraulics are the muscles of the oilpatch, then hydraulic oil is the lifeblood. But just like people, when it gets really cold, they don’t want to move very fast, either. It takes a bit of a warming up to get things going.

Kelly Schnell is the service manager for WilTech Industries, a locally-owned Estevan firm that specializes in hydraulic systems. Barry Gervais is the shop foreman.

Asked about how hydraulics perform when the temperatures bottom out, Schnell said, “Obviously the oil is so much thicker. The viscosity of the oil changes drastically at that -35 Celcius point.

“It’s really hard on hoses at -35 as well.”

Allan Gervais works on a pipe spinner at Wil-Tech Industries.

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He notes that you might want to avoid having someone near hoses or valves operating at extreme cold temperatures, in case of a failure. The cold is felt on the crimp ends and the hoses themselves.

The relief valve operates differently as well.

“It thickens so much, it can’t flow as well,” Gervais added.

The pair recommended going to the operator’s manual first, looking up cold weather warm up and operating procedures. However, there are certain practices that will make life easier.

There is the option of changing to an oil meant specifically for the cold, but that can get very pricey, according to Schnell. “It’s not cost effective. You’re better to run with an oil recommended for the ambi-

ent temperatures specified in the operators manual.

“Doing a warm up procedure is one of most effective ways to get around that,” Schnell said of the cold, stiff hydraulics.

It’s common practice these days to have a hydraulic tank heater, which has a similar effect to warming it up. However, the heater does not warm the oil that has been in the lines and cylinders all night.

To warm up the hydraulics, you can do a series of stretches.

Engage the hydraulics. On a service rig or tank truck, that may mean engaging the PTO at idle to get the pump circulating. ɸ Page A29

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A29

Keeping the water out of hydraulics

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This hardware costs a fair amount, and the company has been looking at it for two years. It’s anticipated to be in operation in the spring.

Not only will the purification system substantially reduce the amount of oil needed to purge water from a hydraulic system, it will also reduce the time, from days to hours.

A frost plug can be a real headache in your hydraulics, especially if it ends up putting your service rig out of commission, as happened here.

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ice blockage.

“We have more freeze ups due to cold in early fall than we do in January,” Schnell said. “Every fall we have a two week busy stint due to water in oil.”

“That ice is surprising. It’s like metal in there,” he added.

A quick look at the oil, such as through a site glass, will indicate the presence of water. Any sort of milky appearance, and you’re hooped.

Getting rid of it is a big job. One method is to drain all the oil, disassemble all the cylinders, remove all the oil and purge all the lines. “It is not cheap,” Schnell said.

The other, more common method is to repeatedly flush the system. “We’ll drain all the oil in the tank, and fill only to the point where you can function things, then purge all that fresh oil into the cylinders.”

The oil is then drained and new, fresh oil is put in, and then cycled out again. Whatever comes out is now useless. Sometimes it takes three, four, or even as many as six times to do the job, each time with a new batch of oil.

This procedure is seen on service rigs, specifically.

It’s cheaper than the first method, but is still expensive.

Wil-Tech is adding a third method to its capabilities. They have ordered a purification system that essentially cooks off the water in the system.

You hook it up to the return line, fire up the equipment, and cycle all your oil through it. “It lays it over a tray as big as this table. It’s a heated element.

It will flash out all your free water in the oil,” Schnell said.

The oil then goes through a high-end filtration system that will recondition the oil to a certain degree.

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ɺ Page A28 Start cycling the functions, but without a load applied. Extend the rams to just about the full stroke, but not quite. Maxing it out is a bad idea. “When you dead end, the relief kicks in. You’re doing more harm than good.”

A good wiper seal should peel off overnight frost on the rams, however, it is possible for frost to sneak in past the seal and end up as water in the system.

Cylinders splitting is a phenomenon caused by heating and cooling cycles. The oil gets warmed up during operation, but chills quickly on the ride home.

Once in the shop, it warms again, and expands. This can result in a cylinder rupturing. “That can split a barrel in the shop overnight,” Schnell said.

“Quite often, it’ll split a cylinder before a hose,” Gervais added.

Water Water is the bogeyman of hydraulic systems. But how does it get in?

“The biggest reason is through the breather on the tank,” Schnell said. It is commonly damaged, and rain can get in. Being overzealous with the wash wand doesn’t help, either.

Eight out of 10 times, it’s through that breather,” Schnell said.

Condensation also causes problems.

“Your oil will get past the saturation point, and then you’ll get free water in your system. Water causes extreme corrosion on components.”

One of their busiest times of the year is not when it’s -35, but rather when the mercury dips just below zero, in the fall.

That’s when water in a hydraulic system that may not have been noticed before will rear its ugly head, causing blockages and failures. A motor not spinning or a cylinder failing to retract are indicators of a likely

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A30

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Heading off to The Doghouse

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Storthoaks – What does a former rig hand name her bar? The Doghouse, of course.

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“I was on there for four years. I roughnecked for a year, and I was ‘motors’ for three years,” explained the 27-year-old. At first she was on Big Sky 91, then Ensign Big Sky 9.

She opened the bar in August, 2007.

She lives in the bar now, as the hotel no longer rents out accommodations. It’s simply a bar and restaurant.

Prior to that, she lived in a house she paid all of $5,000 for.

“We got to do lots of renos,” Chicoine explained, referring to the assistance of her boyfriend. He just happens

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to work on the rigs as well, as a derrickhand for Advance Drilling.

So what was the inspiration to buy a defunct bar?

“I’m not sure, really.

I planned to do both,” she said of operating the bar and working on the rigs. The bar was her backup plan. However, finding staff in a community of only about 100 people can be a problem. A large number of the men work on the rigs, like she did, and many of the women are looking after young families, according to Chicoine.

A year ago she dedicated herself solely to the bar, but she does pick up an occasional shift on the rigs. Her sister, Jennifer Millions, occasionally helps out.

Just in case you get lost in the bar, there are plenty of rig signs inside pointing which way to go. Where do they come from? “You just ask the rig managers,” Chicoine said.

“They’ll bring their own in.”

She’s making a go of it. As the only place in town to order a meal, she said the food portion of the business is really big, with steaks, burgers and wing night.

Having the occasional rig crew working nearby doesn’t hurt, either.

After all, they’re just heading to The Doghouse.

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A31

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A32

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

NEW STATION IN WEYBURN

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

B-Section February 2010

Riding shotgun with a hot shot Nadine Elson, who’s recently signed on with Mission Hot Shot, places timbers on the trailer to support a load of tubing.

Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Estevan – It started out as a sideline business, but became full time after a previous full-time position dried up. Now Clinton Gibbons is glued to his phone, waiting for the next call to deliver the next piece of hardware to an awaiting rig.

More specifically, the phone is glued to him, or rather, stuck in his ear, with a Bluetooth earpiece being a constant companion. You have to be accessible when your business is last-minute deliveries.

Mission Hot Shot Services Inc. of Estevan was founded in 2008, when Gibbons identified an opportunity in the market. Gibbons would know, since he was working as a dispatcher at the time.

He fired up Mission with one truck, then a second. “I caught the tail end of the boom, more or less,” he said.

“I saw a need in 2008 with the job that I had. For cost, it isn’t too bad to buy a truck, and I knew a few retired guys that would like to work.”

Having delivered chemicals for five years, he also has built up a fair bit of knowledge of the back roads of southeast Saskatchewan.

“It was getting to the point where guys were sending out personal trucks.” Gibbons explained that was not legit. “You need commercial plates. You need your tickets.”

“I’m in the process of getting my SECOR and registered with HSE.” ISN Networld is next on the agenda.

“When people look at our rates, it includes a lot

of things you have to take care of. Suddenly, your satellite radio looks insignificant,” he said, compared to items like insurance.

He was laid off from the dispatcher position in the fall of 2009, making Mission his full-time gig now.

Gibbons operates two Dodge 4x4 trucks, a 3500 dually with a conventional box, and a 4500 dually with a 10-ft. flatdeck.

“I’ve never heard guys complain about too much truck, but I have heard them complain about not enough.

“I bought this one with promises of hauling oil tools. That fell through,” Gibbons said of the 4500.

He’s got one 33-ft. fifth wheel trailer, and access to a second, as needed. The purchase of a 35-ft. trailer should be wrapped up shortly. “If you need 40-ft., you probably need a semi,” according to Gibbons.

“It’s basically light oilfield trucking, kind of a Johnny-on-the-spot for tools. ‘We need this now,’” Gibbons described of the hot shot business.

Typical loads might be packers, fishing tools, or sucker rod. “They get at the job and discover they need something, or something broke. When going full-tilt, the lists are long, and guys are in a hurry, and guys forget.”

“I’ve been to Slave Lake and Calgary. Something got sent to the wrong place, and they needed it there by morning,” he recalled.

Ride along Monday starts with a quick run with an anchor

sent out for a completions company. They had called Sunday evening, arranging for the necessary item to be on site near Benson for 8 a.m.

Gibbons was at the pickup shortly after 7 a.m. A few minutes later, and he was on the road.

“I had mapped it out last night. I have a big LSD map on the wall downstairs,” Gibbons said.

He has GPS units for each truck. Between the map, GPS, and 5 years of driving in the area, he knows his way around. The GPSs are of particular benefit for part-time employees. “I’d rather spend $600 for a GPS than lose $600 because they got lost.”

The previous Friday he had a run lined up, but it was delayed because of cold weather. “At least I’m on the list to take it out,” he said. “Now, there are so many hot shots, everybody has a hot shot.”

The next run came from a call just after 10 a.m.

An anchor needed to be taken out to a service rig, west of Stoughton. Pipeline News came along for this ride, and it turns out, a few more.

The air in the morning is a damp cold, with fog depositing ice. Until the sun cuts through the fog, it’s downright chilly – something that’s reflected by the bundled up workers on the service rig we visit.

The item is an anchor for a service rig. The crew is measuring pipe when we get there, and soon after Gibbons delivers the anchor, they fired up operations.

Being based in Estevan has its advantages.

“You’re either coming or going to Estevan,” Gibbons explained. ɸ Page B2

B2

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Go here, go there ɺ Page B1 Irregular A hot shot is a highly irregular business. It can be busy one day, and dead the next several days. Calls might come in at 2 a.m., asking for something to be taken to a rig.

As such, Gibbons noted that hot shot drivers are usually retired, or young and single. When you have a family, you basically need the other person to step in at a moment’s notice. “If I’m at a hockey game with my son and I get a phone call, she has to come, and I’m out of there,” Gibbons said of his wife, Nicole.

She handles the books for the company when not looking after their two kids, ages six and nine. Gibbons used to have a full time job that was a very regular 8 to 5, with hardly ever the need to work a weekend or overtime. Then his next job was more

demanding. Now, he has to be ready at a moment’s notice.

“It’s a fine balance between work and family,” he said.

At 37, Gibbons noted, “I’ve done soup to nuts – pipeline, sandblasting, crew work, pipe inspection.”

He was a part owner in a pipe inspection firm when it first fired up, but sold out early. More recently, he delivered chemical for a local firm.

He’s originally from Estevan.

Gibbons said he’s slowly building up a clientele. “You have to get in and build their trust,” he says. Personality comes into play, and getting to know what some people like, and don’t like. Some clients like to chat, others just want you to drop off the cargo and be on your way.

The calls usually come from the consultant.

Busy day

It builds up into a busy day. He drives over to another well about 10 miles east, where he picks up some equipment from one of the trailers that’s being used by a service rig.

Departing, he collects a sticker for the invoice. It’s a crucial part of the system of payment, with tracking codes and an AFE number for each well.

Billing is done by the hour, as opposed to by distance, and the total time includes the return trip.

A part-timer he’s just brought on brings out the other truck, with the trailer. She needs to load tubing at a boneyard for one of major operators and make a delivery.

Gibbons meets her near the highway, and assists in tying down the load at the boneyard.

Another call comes is, this one for a load meant for the Kisbey area. Yet another comes

Clinton Gibbons of Mission Hot Shot delivers an anchor to a service rig, near Stoughton.

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Estevan. It’s been good fortune that the second truck is already on the road today.

It’s a welcome change from the slow days, when he spends his mornings doing paperwork. Wait-

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Clinton Gibbons’ GPS sits in the corner of the dashboard. GPS units are particularly useful for part-time staff, he explains.

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B3

ATCO announces large Estevan camp Estevan – ATCO Structures and Logistics announced in mid-January it will be setting up a 202-bed camp just east of Estevan, just off the road to the Shand Power Station. Ground work started in December, 2009, and assembly began in January.

The Estevan Board of Tourism, Trade and Commerce has spent much of the last year trying to line up a camp for the community.

The ATCO project comes as hotel construction is already underway in the community, while another hotel opened last year.

The new full-service camp will be known as ATCO Lodge Estevan.

It is slated to open Mar. 1, just a few weeks before spring breakup. It comes at a time when Saskatchewan drilling, since the new year, has outpaced both 2008 and 2009 for the same period, according to Nickle’s Rig Locator. By mid-January, Saskatchewan had already exceeded the postChristmas, pre-breakup peak seen in 2008.

The end of 2008 saw accommodations getting

to the crisis stage in Estevan. The situation was so dire in that boom year, that churches started to get involved and called an emergency meeting to deal with the issue. One of the solutions talked about at that meeting was camps.

George Lidgett is executive vice president operations and field services, ATCO Structures and Logistics. He told Pipeline News, “We’re excited about getting our facility up and being part of the community.”

“We do not come in a fly-by-night style.”

Asked how long the company planned on having the camp at Estevan, he responded, “We’re there for the long haul - five years plus, or whatever the market needs.”

The company doesn’t plan on setting up, and then pulling out. “We work quite a bit with industry. We do a lot of market research. What you don’t want to do is set up a facility and you have to move it in a year’s time.”

They started seriously looking at Estevan in mid-2009. He said there is a lot of industry

in the region, with lots of market segments. As for the camp opening just before spring breakup, he responds that the facility is not just about oil.

“Our goal is to meet the needs of the area. You want to get in, get the facility built, and be ready.”

Regarding new hotel construction in the community, Lidgett said, “I think the region can support all the lodging that’s coming into play.”

Staffing will run around 10 to 12 people.

Amenities for the camp include satellite TV, high speed Internet access in rooms, a recreation centre, business centre, and 24-hour security. The daily rate includes breakfast, bag

lunch and dinner.

“You need to make sure you have good food and people enjoy what you’re cooking,” he said.

“ATCO has been in workforce housing for 60 years,” Lidgett said.

Estevan is also on track for the construction of a new Energy Training Institute this year, and a truck route around the city has been in the works. Work is continuing on the new hockey

arena. Waiting in the wings are the clean coal project at Boundary Dam Power Station, and the Saskatchewan-Montana carbon capture project, although when either will begin is uncertain.

Estevan Office: Phone: (306) 634-2681 Fax: (306) 636-7227

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

GPS application for oil¿eld

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – So your spouse was kind enough to get you a GPS for Christmas, and while handy, it hasn’t exactly knocked your socks off when out in rural areas.

That changes when you install an oilfield-specific mapping package like PatchMap. After using it

for a few days in the field, you’re going to find it as indispensible as your cell phone.

Most Garmins have the ability to install additional maps by way of a SD or Micro SD card.

A closet industry has developed in the Canadian oilpatch, developing maps specifically for

the patch. Each is meant to work with Garmins, making them the default GPS to be used in the field.

In 2009, Grande Prairie, Alta.-based Skybase Geomatic Solutions Inc. joined forces with JuneWarren-Nic kle ’s Energy Group, the publishing powerhouse be-

hind publications like Oil & Gas Inquirer, Oilweek, Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin, and the Bible of the patch, the Canadian Oilfield Services and Supply Directory (COSSD). Full disclosure: JuneWarrenNickle’s and Pipeline News are both part of the Glacier Media group of publishing companies.

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JuneWarren-Nickle’s supplied Pipeline News the PatchMapSD version with topographic mapping of software for the purposes of testing.

“The Garmin seems to be what the industry uses,” said Rob Pentney, sales director with JuneWarren-Nickle’s.

COSSD on GPS There are actually two components at play here. One is the directory itself, and the second is the PatchMap software.

Launched in August, 2009, The COSSD is now available to be downloaded, for free, from its website. Go to www.cossd.com and look for the GPS file on the top right of the home page. Paid advertisers who have provided their geographic location are able to be found on GPS, wherever you are.

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Pentney said that almost everyone in the COSSD is now available on the Garmin GPS package.

“We’re almost there,” he said.

So how does this work in the patch? If you are in the middle of nowhere, and need a tow truck, you can search on the Garmin for the nearest towing company.

Similar things can be done for any other category in the directory, such as hot shot service.

It’s a way for the COSSD to expand its reach, beyond the ubiquitous book form, DVD, and website, according to Pentney.

The COSSD is now integrated with the PatchMap software, so that when you install PatchMap, you also get the COSSD. PatchMap can be found at www. skybase.ca.

PatchMap The PatchMap software is not cheap, nor are any other oilpatch packages. Indeed, it’s worth more than twice of a lower-end GPS, meaning you don’t want to leave it on the dashboard when parking in town.

The GPS and software combined is worth more than higher-end car stereos, and is a lot more portable. That makes it a perfect target for thieves.

Because it is loaded and locked to the card, Patchmap is portable.

You can pull it out of one Garmin GPS and easily load it into another.

Garmin’s own maps are locked to the individual GPS. There is copy protection on the card to prevent duplicates being useful. ɸ Page B5

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

B5

workers is indispensable ɺ Page B4 Installing the software is easy enough. Insert the memory card, and the Garmin recognizes it. There are a couple of things you’ll need to do though.

First you have to turn off the factory-installed North American cities basemap, otherwise you end up with issues.

The second item is how to enter LSD (legal subdivision) land locations. It’s not obvious, and apparently it is different than other, similar programs. Basically, select “Where to,” then “Points of Interest.” You need to enter it by choosing the “Spell Name” function.

Once there, enter in the numbers with a space between each one, ending with W2, for west of the 2nd Meridian, if that’s where you are. It takes a minute, but the GPS will cook up the exact land location. If there is a well on that site, it will give you the operator of the well, and their contact information as listed with the provincial government. It will even tell you when it was spudded.

It provides the location of the wellhead, not the bottom of the well, according to Rob Coutts, president of SkyBase.

That’s particularly important, because the bottom of the well could put you on the wrong side of a stream, for instance.

Highly detailed If you were driving near the Manitoba border, several things may stand out. The current data set includes British Columbia, Alberta, and, since late 2008, Saskatchewan. But it does not include Manitoba. “Here be dragons,” might as well be written on that portion of the map, across the border.

That was actually an in-

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Manitoba is in the works for future incarnations of the software, however.

COSSD data for Manitoba is included.

While Manitoba is still on the drawing board, the level of detail for points west is substantial.

As you zoom in, more detail is revealed.

Once it shows a scale of 300 m, a lot of detail comes into play. Grey squares indicate leases, for instance. In Alberta, it will even indicate sour gas facilities in yellow.

Even near a very densely drilled field, with a string of new pumpjacks. The GPS will not only reveal the leases for each, but also the path of underground horizontal wells.

Pipelines are also included. Watch where the pipelines converge, and at a glance, you can surmise the locations of batteries.

If you move the cursor over the lease, it will give you information on it.

“Crowdsourcing” The data comes from government databases, as well as a “whole pile of proprietary data,” according to Coutts.

Coutts says their users provide a lot of the information that is not provided from government databases. ɸ Page B6

The series of grey squares indicates leases, while the thin lines show the horizontal wells are indicated by the thin lines. In the background, you can see the pumpjacks from the series of wells indicated on the map, south of Antler, Sask.

B6

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Pry it from my cold, dead ¿ngers ɺ Page B5 “I can get a wellsite quickly, but I can’t get the road into it,” he said.

They’ve turned to “crowdsourcing,” where users submit information to be added to the package. This information, like the location of roads

into leases, is then incorporated into the next update. As a way of thanks, SkyBase provides a break on updates in return.

Indeed, the feedback has been more than they anticipated, he noted, as users are excited to see their additions included in updates. “They’re pret-

ty excited about that,” he said.

First hand experience One evening I (Brian Zinchuk) was near Antler, Sask., my next stop was a drilling rig southwest of Stoughton. The drilling company emailed me the land location and directions to the rig from

the main intersection at Stoughton.

I entered the land location as described above, and in a minute or so, the GPS started giving me directions.

By the time I got to the turnoff west of Stoughton, I wasn’t sure if I was on the right road.

The directions from the drilling company said turn south 14-km from the intersection. However, the GPS said to turn one road sooner than my odometer indicated.

I followed the GPS, and sure enough, 8-km later, I was at the drilling site.

However, there were not one, but three rigs at this location, drilling side by each along the same side of the road. The GPS,

with the PatchMap software, took me directly to the correct rig, even the proper approach.

This was particularly useful, because it was pitch black at night, in an area I was unfamiliar with. Going home, I selected “Home” and it gave me the correct roads to get me back to Estevan. It even kept me from going down some blind roads.

If all you do in your travels is drive to towns, then the basic GPS basemap will do you fine. But when it comes to visiting leases in the backwoods, such technology like PatchMap is indispensible. Coutts refers to how many times a person is “temporarily

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misplaced,” i.e. lost. The savings in lost time alone will soon pay for the software and GPS. “The guys on the ground see the value to them instantaneously, and see the value on the pocketbook,” Coutts said.

Convincing office people is not so easy, however.

The payoff is typically within a month, sometimes substantially less, he explained.

The company also produced a PC-based version which is meant primarily for dispatchers.

It allows them to create and print maps for distribution to drivers and their GPS units. It’s more expensive, however.

It can be used to share datasets from one GPS to another, i.e. routes to get to a particular lease. It also works with Google Earth.

PatchMap came to the fore about four years ago, when the technology became available to do what they wanted to, according to Coutts. Initially, it was broken down into smaller geographic areas, but with the improvements in the size of memory cards, it is now possible to put then entire northeast British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan package on one 4 GB memory card, with plenty of room to spare.

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B7

Facebook home for Saskatchewan oilpatch There’s a Facebook group for everything these days, and now there’s one dedicated to some of the more interesting moments in the Saskatchewan oilpatch.

Called The Rig and Oil Production in SK!!, there were 325 members as of Jan. 13.

Dale McLeod, Jr. is the creator of the site.

His description of it

reads, “Pictures of rigs and oil production side, whether it’s rig thrills or production spills. Rig moves or an interesting moment in your day.� “I just put it up there, to see what goes on,� he told Pipeline News.

McLeod noted there have been a number of job inquiries, saying, “It’s been really nice that way.�

The photos section has a mix of everyday photos and oops moments, including several trucks getting stuck up to their axles.

A video shows the results of a blowout in southern Manitoba several years ago.

On the wall you’ll ďŹ nd some chatter about looking for work.

In one of the discus-

sion forums, a member named James writes, “It never ceases to amaze me that for an industry that touches every life on the planet most people have no idea what is involved or what it actually takes to be an oil worker. “We spend 2/3 of our life in a camp or motel, we miss our kids and wives and more often than not are divorced real fast as our wives don’t understand what is involved either.

When we ďŹ nd a wife that does we hold on to her as hard as we can. “I tell the younger generation the same thing every time they ask about a job in the patch that it is not a job but

a way of life and if you can’t live it, you won’t be able to work it.�

A responder named Dale writes, “That may be true for drilling rigs, but don’t forget that there are other rigs out there. We usually only work ten hours a day, and we are always home at night. The life style is

great and the money is not too shabby either. I have been on the service rigs for 9 years now, and every time some asks me for a job I tell them if you like the outdoors and don’t mind change from job-to-job this is perfect for you. By the way, real rigs have wheels!�

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B8

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Need a room in SW Manitoba? Good luck Melita, Manitoba – Need a hotel room in southwest Manitoba? Good luck.

They might be able to squeeze you in when spring breakup comes.

Todd Fischer, owner of the Melita Hotel By The River, said they’ve been really busy, almost exclusively with oilpatch business. “It’s been excellent. We’ve only owned the place two years.”

At first there was service rig work, and then in January, 2009, it was “like someone hit a light switch.” But business picked up again in June, and in the fall, they were chock full of pipeliners. “Now, it’s mostly drilling rigs, boiler trucks,” he told Pipeline News Jan. 14.

They have 12 rooms and a house available for rent. Each rig crew will usually take three rooms, with the day and night shifts sharing the rooms. It means the hotel has to turn around the rooms quickly in the morning, but Fisher doesn’t mind, because as a hunter, he’s used to getting up early in the morning.

“Most of the crew members we have now are planning on staying until spring,” he said.

The Melita Inn Motor Hotel has 20 rooms. They’ve also been busy, with two or three different groups such as drilling rigs or service companies, at a time.

The person at the desk declined to give her name, but said, “It’s oil, oil, oil.”

They, too, expect to be full until breakup.

About 20 minutes to the east, Richard Mercier, owner of the Deloraine Motor Inn, said there’s an oil boom going on. He wishes the media based in Winnipeg would take notice. “I’m surprised, it’s a big economic boom for Manitoba.”

They too, are full. He’s heard of several companies, each with several dozen wells on their agenda over the next few months.

“It’s going to be crazy. More companies are calling every day. As they drill more, more service companies come.”

Mercier’s 11-room hotel, restaurant, bar and beer vendor have all been very busy, he noted.

The Manitoba drilling rig count, according to Nickle’s Rig Locator (www. nickles.com/rig) spent most of 2009 with 10 rigs. That number had climbed to 14, by mid January this year, with most of them active. As of Jan. 15, eight of nine Manitoba service rigs were active, as were 12 of the 14 drilling rigs.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

B9

Tractors for the patch help out

Large four-wheel-drive tractors similar to this one see a lot of use clearing snow for leases. A.E. Chicoine Farm Equipment’s bottom line beneÀts from the additional sales of large equipment.

SUN VALLEY LAND LTD. Thomas Chicoine is the third generation working in the family business.

Storthoaks – A.E. Chicoine Farm Equipment Ltd. is the biggest operation in Storthoaks, with a staff around eight.

The Case IH dealer may specialize in agricultural equipment, but some of that hardware finds use in the oilpatch, particularly for land spreading of drilling mud or plowing snow.

“We’ve sold quite a few four-wheel-drive tractors that are running the vac wagon,” said Thomas Chicoine.

He’s the next generation of Chicoines in the business, which is currently run by his father, Roland Chicoine, and uncle, Richard Chicoine.

The brothers are two of 12 siblings in the fam-

ily. The dealership was founded by his grandfather, Alfred Chicoine.

This year will be the dealership’s 60th in business.

“In the last five years, we’ve picked up more business in the patch,” Thomas said. Some of those units see work pulling scrapers for preparing leases. The total is around 15 to 20 units, he estimated. “If you sell one or two a year, it all helps our bottom line. That’s one more unit to service and maintain.”

Some tractors are used by farmers for their own work, plus supplemental oilpatch work, like clearing snow. Other units are strictly being used for the oilfield

work.

Indeed, his father was out of town that day, getting a blade to be put on a farm tractor for snow clearing. Such blades, from Regina manufacturer Degelman, are usually 12- or 14-ft. in length.

While they don’t carry new skid-steer loaders, they do get some used ones in. They see use in lease maintenance.

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B10

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Local tire shop expanding

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – A year ago, Trent’s Tire & Service set up shop in Estevan, expanding from their original location at Oungre. Trent Emmel, the owner, set up shop in a building owned by his brother Davin Emmel, and Davin’s business partner in Dart Services. Now they are just in the process of moving into their own

digs on the same property, on the west side of Estevan.

The new shop is set way back from the road, providing lots of room for manoeuvring large trucks like B-trains.

Tim Nixon is the store manager, having joined Trent’s in September. He came on just in time to oversee the construction of the new facility, which be-

gan in late October.

“We’ve got a place to park the trailer and pull just the truck into the shop,” Nixon said.

By mid-January, it was all but complete, with workers putting the final touches on pipe racks. The interior of the office was just about done, with the final electrical work being completed and computers being set up.

They planned to be in operation for Feb. 1.

That’s about a month behind initial plans, but actually pretty quick compared to similar projects in the region.

The company acted as its own general contractor, with A-Fab of Rocanville providing the shell of the building, Eric Salmers Construction is doing the

interior of the shop, and Lampman Electric handling the electrical side. A lot of work was done by Trent’s Tire and Service staff. ɸ Page B11

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B11

A year in Estevan, now Trent’s Tire expands Shawn Skidmore works with a torch to custom Àt a tire rack for placement along the wall at Trent’s Tire and Service’s new facility in Estevan.

ɺ Page B10 The office area is 36 ft. x 50 ft., while the shop area is 72 ft. x 116 ft. It has five large bay doors – three on the north side, two on the east. They are big enough to handle a service rig. The south end of the shop has a pit meant for steering and suspension alignments and adjustments.

“We made a bridge platform on the front so we can accommodate tandem steer trucks,” Nixon said. They are becoming more prevalent in the area, he noted.

There is also a car and light truck alignment hoist.

In addition to tires the company will be offering service work like oil changes, brake jobs and alignments. The intention is to gain SGI inspection certification in early 2010. That’s something they couldn’t do in the old shop, in the back of Dart Services, he explained.

They are in the process of adding staff.

With five tire techs,

Workers lay out curb stops for the front of Trent’s Tire and Service new building.

two administrative staff and a manager in place already, the intention is to bring on three mechanics. “We’ve been doing some shopping locally, and will probably be bringing over some Filipinos,” Nixon said.

“I interviewed them over Skype,” he explained, noting that the web-based video phone application is very useful for reading body language.

He anticipates having two Filipino mechanics here by the end of February or early

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B12

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

When it’s really cold, you want to be warm

Contract operator Tony Thompson shows his layering of clothes while picking up some boots at Ron’s Work Wear Store in Estevan.

Estevan – Most jobs have some sort of uniform. For a corporate executive, spending $1,000 on an Italian suit is just part of doing business.

What one may not realize is that for workers who brave the extreme cold, they can spend a similar amount to be properly equipped.

Quality doesn’t come

cheap, but when the temperature bottoms out, and the wind will chill you to the bone, that’s when you notice it, according to Rick Tourand, one of the owners of Ron’s Work Wear Store.

“It is an expensive product, but the first day you’re out in – 30 weather, it’s worth three times as much,” Tourand said,

particularly of the Helly Hansen underwear that is a staple of the oilpatch.

With locations in Weyburn, Estevan and Carlyle, Tourand said, “We’ve got the Bakken play surrounded.” At their Estevan and Carlyle locations, about 70 per cent of their business is oilfield-related, while in Weyburn, it’s around half. The company has been around for 27 years, founded by Ron Tourand, who is now semiretired.

While there are other brands, Helly Hansen is the far and beyond leader when it comes to cold weather gear in the patch. Ron’s three stores are the leading distributor of Helly Hansen in Saskatchewan, Tourand asserted, despite the fact that big box work wear stores with multiple locations carry the same product.

Asked what people are looking for when they come in, Tourand responds by asking what do they do? Different workers have different needs. We’ll start by equipping, from scratch, a rig worker who is going to be outside much

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Layers “It’s a layering system. Helly Hansen wants to get you into a base layer, a thermal layer, and an outer layer. Both [underwear] layers, for an active person, can be overkill,” Tourand said.

“If you’re a roughneck, I probably wouldn’t show you the base layer.

If you’re roughnecking, you’re moving a lot.

“The whole principle is: if you move, you sweat.

When the sweat stays beside your body, that’s how you get cold.”

Underwear Tourand recommends holding off on putting on the full underwear set when you feel the first cool breeze in fall. If you dont wait, the full effect of its warmth will be diminished when it gets really cold.

The base layer is polypropylene long johns and shirt.

It’s thin, and doesn’t look like much compared to the old style waffle-type long johns you may have gotten in your Christmas stocking as a kid. Its purpose is to wick moisture away from the body, while the heatlocking fibre traps body heat. Each top and bot-

tom runs around $50, or $100 combined.

The second layer is your thermal layer. This is where you find some noticeable thickness. “This is for extreme cold temperatures,” Tourand said.

The thermal layer again comes in a top and bottom, with a hooded top being a common choice. The hooded jacket will run around $130, while the bottoms are around $85. If you’re counting, we’re at about $315, and still talking underwear.

“That’s why the oilfield pays what it does.

It costs money to make money,” Tourand explained.

There are fire retardant versions available, too, but it almost doubles the cost. “I bring it in because some of the guys need it. Some companies are demanding fire retardant right down to the underwear,” according to Tourand. “I can get you Nomex briefs, if you need them.”

Outerwear “The whole key is you have to have an outer layer to cut wind and shed moisture,” Tourand said.

There are usually two ways this is accomplished.

First and foremost, most oilfield applications require a fire retardant outer layer. Many companies

will provide fire retardant coveralls.

In that case, the worker may choose to go with a Helly Hansen bib (e.g. pants) and jacket, worn under the coveralls.

The other option is to go with a Nomex bib and jacket, bomber or parka style, or one piece snowsuit-style Nomex insulated coverall. While Helly Hansen does make a fire retardant insulated coverall, the price is sufficiently high that Ron’s doesn’t carry them.

A bomber style ends at the waist, while a parka design ends below the buttocks, and is called “instructor length.”

Getting a two piece Helly Hansen combination is around $380, while a one piece is around $320.

For a typical Nomex coverall, unlined, you’re looking at $200. A twopiece Nomex lined suit will set you back around $500.

“A lot will layer their clothing and put Nomex coveralls over top,” Tourand explained.

There are a lot of differences in fire retardant clothing, he notes. An electrician may need a higher arc rating, while an oilfield application may specifically require Nomex, as opposed to another brand. ɸ Page B13

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

B13

The wiser are generally the warmer

Rubber boots, socks, gloves, Àre retardant jacket, and thermal underwear are all part of winter attire required.

ɺ Page B12 Either combination – Nomex coveralls and a Helly Hansen outer shell underneath, or a lined Nomex outer jacket and bib, will set you back about $500 to $600, all in.

Footwear Socks are typically a nylon/wool blend, and can vary from a few bucks a pair to as much as $18 for the top of the line. Commonly purchased socks run around $8 a pair.

Boots have trended back towards rubber boots – but with modern updates. Unlike the felt-lined boots grandpa might have bought at the Macleods store, these rubbers have no removable liner. Instead, there is a thin polyurethane lining that works on a similar

principle to diver’s wetsuits. Microscopic cells help retain heat.

A modern rubber boot can have a -50 C rating.

One of the reasons for the growth in rubber boots is their improved resistance to invert or distillate used in drilling. Whereas older rubber boots would disintegrate when exposed to invert, these new models will stand up.

The boots will also stand up to the caustic nature of manure and urine for farmers, Tourand pointed out.

Some models have composite instead of steel toes and shanks.

Inside the boot, a product the store has carried from day one is known as the “Bama.”

Calling them “sockettes,” they look like

little booties. They were popular at first, then hardly moved for years, and now are popular again, according to Tourand. They go for a little under $20.

Not everyone wants or needs a rubber boot, though. There’s a wide variety of conventional, Thinsulate-lined workboots to heavily insulated, snowmobilestyled work boots.

All told, it’s not uncommon to spend about $150 for boots, with a wide variation on prices from top end to bottom.

Extremities While hoodies may be common and popular, they are becoming frowned upon from a safety perspective – especially if they get tangled up. Hard hat liners can either fit under the

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hard hat or over, with the under-variety being much more common.

They, too, can be obtained in fire retardant varieties. Prices again vary widely, ranging up to $70 for fire retardant versions.

A terry-cloth sweatband makes wearing a hardhat a lot more comfortable, keeping your forehead warm in winter, and keeping the sweat out of your eyes in the summer. They are a few bucks each.

Gloves are typically leather and lined, or rubber. Tourand calls the Red Baron line “The oilfield glove. It’s the glove out in the oilpatch.”

Rubber gloves, such as the “Monkey Grip,” are also common. “Get a liner in these, and they are pretty warm,” Tourand said.

Gloves will set you back between $7 and $17 a pair.

When you add up the underwear, outer layers, coveralls, boots, gloves and hard hat liners, it’s easy for a full set to exceed $1,000 – and that’s only for one set, never mind having spares for laundry day.

“A lot of guys will buy two sets of the base layer,” Tourand noted.

“It’s such an individual thing.”

As for how often they get washed, well, that too is an individual thing.

With such a large investment, it’s good to know they should last a while. One client once came in complaining of a broken zipper on his thermals. It turned out

he had been using the same set of Helly Hansen thermal underwear for 14 years.

Variations Not every job requires the extremes in cold weather protection. Truckers, for instance, will often go with lighter-weight boots. A number will choose rubber boots.

The trick is to find boots where their feet don’t get too hot in the truck, and then correspondingly cold, from sweat, when outside.

Pipeliners are hard to put a finger on, and are very individual in their preferences. They may go from a regular work boot to a -100 C

rated Baffin.

Field operators are in and out of the truck, so they will often have Nomex coveralls and a base layer. Nomex parkas are common.

Seismic crews often don’t have time to shop, and a purchasing agent for the crew will often come in with a laundry list of needed items and an envelope of cash to pay for it, collected from each of the workers. They tend to go for lighter, less expensive clothes.

“When you’re 18 and bulletproof, it doesn’t matter. When you turn 40, the 18 catches up to you,” Tourand concluded.

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B14

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Pipeliners rally behind rafÀe for charity It all started with a conversation about raising money for cancer, and ended with an overjoyed owner of a new Harley, a kid going to Disneyland, and a pile of money going to charity.

“We were working for Louisbourg Pipelines Inc., doing tie-ins, compressor station dig-ups throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba,” explained Ron Gellert, one of the instigators of the project.

He’s a mainline pipeline welder and pipefitter based in Lloydminster, and a member of UA local 179 Regina. The job at the time was TransCanada’s Keystone project, which saw a natural gas pipeline converted to oil usage throughout 2009.

“It started from a conversation in June,” Gellert said.

“We had our straw boss on our crew who went through four cancer operations. He always wanted to give back to the Cancer Society,” recalled Gellert.

There were several pipeliners having the discussion, including Gellert, Rob Perchuk of Douglas, Man., Murdock MacDonald of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Leroy Keller of Winnipeg, the strawboss.

They bounced around a few ideas, including raf-

fling a quad, until they settled on raffling a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Several of them were bikers, and they had good relations with the Harley dealer in Brandon. Soon they had their prize lined up: a two-tone maroon and gold Ultra Tour Classic, with a white, enclosed trailer.

A leather jacket would be included.

Second prize would $2,500 cash, with third prize winning $1,000.

The men got together a deposit, and paid off the bike with ticket sales. There were 500 tickets printed, at $100 a pop. All but seven sold.

The bike was taken to pipeline spreads across the prairies, coming out in the morning for the workers to look at and drool over, and hopefully buy a ticket.

Tickets were sold in the yard. The bike would go back in the trailer as the men went to work.

The Harley was seen on spreads from Morden, Man., to Brandon and Regina. The group gave out numerous t-shirts and hats in support of the cause.

In the end, the payoff was worth it. “We contributed a $10,000 donation to the Cancer Society in

Winnipeg, $5,000 to the Autism Society, and $2,500 to the Children’s Wish Foundation,” Gellert said.

That last donation enabled a child from Winnipeg to visit Disneyland.

The big draw came on Oct. 15, at the Louisbourg yard in Brandon. They had planned to go another two weeks, but there was a layoff pending, so it was time to give it away while the guys were still around. The draw was made during a safety meeting, with about 400 people standing around.

The first prize went to pipefitter Pat Raviers. He must have had a good feeling about it, because Gellert said, “He told everyone he was going to win. He was nearly doing backflips. He was jumping up and down like a little kid.”

Second prize went to a senior man for Waschuk Pipeline Construction, a gentleman who has a habit of winning prizes, according to Gellert.

Finally, a labourer on the Bannister crew tool third prize. When Gellert called him, he thought it was a joke, and hung up. Then he called back and asked, “Are you serious? Can you drop it off in Brandon?”

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B15

Former rig hand now clears snow, farms Storthoaks – The Case 4690 four-wheel-drive tractor may be old – nearly 30 years, but it’s busy when the snow flies. Richard Paradis, a former rig hand, picked it up a few years ago to complement his farming operation. It’s not pulling harrows, however, but pushing snow, exclusively.

“That’s all I use it for. I don’t use it for farming. That’s all that tractor does – push snow,” he explained.

Now four years into his snow clearing venture, Paradis has about 150 leases he looks after, having just picked up a few more. He does all that with one tractor, but said, “I’m getting somebody to help me.”

His farm yard is literally the southern edge of Storthoaks, a stone’s throw from A.E. Chicoine Farm Equipment, the dealer he bought it from.

Most of his work is for Penn West, but he also does some for Arc Resources and Crescent Point.

“When there’s a snow storm, everyone’s really busy,” he said.

The companies have prioritized lists, starting with batteries, and then test tanks, and finally, pumpjacks. “That’s the last I usually do,” he said.

Asked if he runs around the clock after a big blow, he says no. “I’ll put in 12-hour days. That’s long enough pushing. You’re tired then.”

Paradis had worked the rigs for 15 years, but his heart wasn’t in it any more. Instead, he wanted to farm. He says you can’t work the rigs and farm and do both well. “I was looking for something that would fit in with farming, something I could do in the winter. Pushing snow in the patch worked really well.”

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B16

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Truck wash sheds tons of road weight and salt Lloydminster – Tr a n s C a n a d a Automatic Truck Wash, west of Lloydminster on Highway 16, can be viewed as weight loss and fitness facility to

keep heavy haul oilfield and transport trucks on the move and making money during the cold of winter.

One ride through the eight minute truck

wash cycle can remove tons of excess ice, corrosive salt and sand from every nook and cranny allowing carriers like Heavy Crude Hauling LP in Lloydminster to

Farmer Leon Hougham from Frenchman’s Butte washed his semi on a cold day to remove salt buildup.

carry fuller loads, save fuel and maintain equipment easier.

Heavy Crude Hauling owns a fleet of over two hundred bulk crude trailers that carry crude oil and produced water in the Bonnyville, Edam, Lloydminster and Maidstone areas and has become a regular customer this winter at TransCanada Truck Wash.

“We wash them for maintenance and if they get too much ice on them,” said Ron MacDonald, a driver evaluator for Heavy Crude who has driven as many as 85 company trailers through the wash bay in one week this winter.

“We wash them when they are empty and drive them back to the shop. It’s for maintenance purposes and makes it easier to find the nuts and bolts.

“It’s also extra weight if we have to go over a weigh scale. It cuts down on your loads.

You have make allowances for that.”

Heavy Crude Hauling also has a fleet of pups, tandems, tridems, super Bs, tanks and bodyjobs that need washing.

It was -20 Celsius the day the Pipeline News visited the truck and car wash facility that opened last winter. It is undergoing continual improvements to ensure customers get the best possible wash for their money especially during frigid temperatures.

“We added a double wash last summer and we knew we would need it this winter,” said manager Morten Merrild.

“Washing cold surfaces is just a different story. The soap can freeze and that’s why we don’t put the soap on the first run during a double wash.

“We focus on blasting off the mud and the ice in the first run. And in the second one, we give it a full wash. It gets way cleaner.”

“A lot of guys don’t really care too much

about the details,” said Merrild. “They can go through without soap just to work on their weight – mud, salt and ice. At this time of the year, we have that as an option.”

Rates and wash services vary according to vehicle type and customers’ needs.

The automated truck wash has lowered its high volume spray to reach no higher than five feet off the ground to reduce the amount of water that could leak into windows and door seals.

“If you look at most trucks, 90 per cent of the mud and ice is from five feet and below,” said Merrild. “That keeps water out of the door and window. We only put about 20 per cent of the volume on the door.

“We did a lot of research on the washing to determine how we can get a truck clean without putting too much water on. ɸ Page B17

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Assistant truck wash manager Dean Haan and wash operator Martin Johnson remove the exhaust covers when a truck pulls out of the wash bay.

B17

Driver Ron MacDonald drove this crude hauling trailer for Heavy Crude Hauling through the truck wash. Heavy Crude Hauling is a regular wash customer.

Truck wash provides a much needed service ɺ Page B16 “In the beginning, we felt the more water the better and now we are kind of thinking the less water the better to get a clean wash.”

At least 15,000 gallons of water are used for each cleaning – enough to put a smile on the face of farmer Leon Hougham who drove his Lone Wolf Hauling semi through the wash bay on his second visit.

“I have quite a buildup of salt and it would take quite a bit to clean at a regular car wash,” said Hougham, who says he hauls “a bunch of cows” from his farm at Frenchman’s Butte.

“This is pretty painless to come in and quickly get “her” done.

When it’s cleaner it’s easier to do maintenance on it but it’s mostly for getting that salt off so things aren’t rusting out.

“My biggest concern is the salt. All that undercarriage and everything around the fifth wheel – it’s a hard place to get cleaned out by yourself. I don’t know how you would do it.

“You would have to lay on your back with the wand. It would be quite a job to get that out of there properly.”

Hougham pulled in dressed for the cold with the ear flaps on his hat pulled down but he said if it were too cold he’d be worried about water freezing all of his doors shut.

Merrild counters that by reporting a lot of drivers tell him “it’s not a big deal if they take it right back on the road.

“We’re up against a change of habit. There was nowhere you could

go and knock off that ice before they could come here. They could start working on it with a hammer but that would take forever.

“A lot of them will be pulling a lot of ex-

tra weight with the salt and ice – tons of extra weight. They lose money on stuff they can’t haul and the extra weight affects fuel economy.”

As fate would have it, the heated concrete

entrance and exit pads have failed in the cold and the automatic door sometimes malfunctions with heavy ice buildup, but none of these problems affects the quality of the wash.

“Like any other business we have startup things to learn,” said Merrild. “We still have a lot of stuff we want to change to get out product better. We are not 100 per cent satisfied.

“Business is starting to come in and a lot of guys are starting to make it a habit. That’s a good.

It shows us that there’s a need for this service in the area and that we are here to stay.”

B18

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Factory Workwear out¿ts the west for winter’s worst Lloydminster – The best way to keep warm in the winter is to do what Pam and Neal Beznoska did.

They are the owners of Northern Factory Workwear shops in Lloydminster and Saskatoon who flew south to escape the cold of January before they were able to be interviewed about their cold weather clothing garments.

Fortunately for readers, they left instructions with staff to talk about how their store is geared to

keeping everyone they left behind warm and cozy at work and play, come snowstorm or blizzard.

While the Beznoskas were in warmer climates, sales associate Brandi Pedersen knows from her experience that it’s cold weather and goose bumps that keep the company in business.

“As soon as it’s cold, that’s when guys in the oilpatch want to buy stuff,” she said. “That’s when we are the busiest. Most people don’t actually buy cold weather clothing until it actually gets cold.”

Two year-old Jenessa Younghands volunteered to model this snazzy pair of coveralls with help from her mom Marilyn and four year sister Laney

Small talk about the weather is also Pedersen’s opening to “get the ball rolling for getting some clothing on them,” as she puts it.

“Oilpatch workers are looking for warm boots, warm coats, something for their head and mitts and gloves for hands – you name it anything to keep them warm.”

Northern Factory Workwear has become known as the place to shop for brand name winter work wear and fire retardant clothing regulated or required by the oil industry.

The store has its own in-house embroidery shop to provide a one-stop service for oil companies and industries wanting their logo on all corporate employee outerwear.

The Lloydminster-based retail fixture is also slowly morphing into a family store for spouses and kids of oil workers and the general public to meet the demand for warm and fashionable winter clothing.

“What’s unique and diverse about us is that we see people coming in who are all types and ages,” said Nadine Walker-Perry, a marketing associate. ɸPage B19

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

B19

Cold weather shopping starts here

Sales associate Brandi Pedersen models a warm, stylish Canada Goose parka for women.

ɺ Page B18 “The kids are coming in to get geared up for when they are going skating or sledding or their parents are making sure they’re warm going off to school with right boots and jackets.

“The guys in the oilfield are looking for those items they have to have but we also have people who are just looking for good and warm clothing that will last through the winter.”

Wanting to look cool in the cold or while attending an after-work function or chore could be solved by wearing a Canada Goose jacket made in Canada.

The trendy parkas have been worn by actors in such movies as The Day After Tomorrow, Eight Below and National Treasure.

The women’s Expedition model features a water-repellant finish, heavy-duty zipper and duck down fill for warmth and dryness, along with a stylish coyote fur collar.

“Most people want one for warmth but some people have mentioned fashion,” said Ruth Rendle who receives some of the e-mail inquiries from around the world from people who have browsed the business web site.

“I had a fellow call me from Ottawa and he wanted to know if some specific coats were warm enough for the climate there and what I would suggest for that area.”

Walker-Perry says what helps drive local and domestic sales of the non-workwear stock is the fact a lot of oilpatch companies give their employees gift certificates or safety bonuses that can be used to purchase anything in store.

“So if the dad comes in with his wife and the kids come along, they get whatever they want with it. It’s definitely family oriented,” said Walker-Perry.

The kids’ clothing section includes coveralls from Finnmark for boys and girls from size two and up so they can “look like daddy in the oilpatch” as Walker-Perry jokes. “We also have socks, toques, mitts and winter coats for kids.”

For the oilpatch recreationist, the store carries a good selection of snowmobile suits from Ganka and casual winter jackets by brands such as Columbia, CAT, Merrill, Helly Hansen and the iconic Canada Goose line that is a favourite of Walker-Perry’s.

“People see Canada Goose and they love that brand,” she said. “It’s warm and stylish and has become a fashion conscious product.

“If they are looking for something warm going to their kids’ hockey game or shoveling the driveway, they know this will keep them warm.”

Brandi Pedersen reaches up to take down a kid sized Canada Goose jacket for winter warmth.

This winter is the first full winter that WalkerPerry has worked at the store and she says all the talk about cold weather actually warms her up to come to work.

“When you start here everyone tells you in the winter it’s going to be really busy,” she said. “You don’t really comprehend that until you see big line ups at the till and whole store just swarming with people.

“It’s super fun and exciting.”

Ditto for Pedersen who said when it comes to cold weather, “We thrive off it. When I see it snowing outside or it it’s cold, I get excited because I know it’s going to be a busy day. It’s really good for our store.”

B20

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Tow truck driver Dan Lougheed is bundled up for towing in the cold. His gloves are warming in the truck.

Warm wear key to cold winter heavy towing Story and Photos by Geoff Lee Lloydminster – Cold winter weather is money in the bank for Action Towing & Recovery. They are busier than ever this season, but it’s no picnic for employees towing and recovering vehicles from accidents in frigid temperatures.

“In a normal rollover, it only takes about 15 minutes to get hooked up to the unit and then you are back inside driving again,” said owner John Buhnai at his snow covered yard, 16 kilometres west of Lloydminster on Highway 16.

“Normal towing isn’t that bad. It’s when you’re doing recovery work at an accident and you are out there for a few hours. That’s when the cold really gets to you.

“When it’s -35 Celsius and you have a wind chill factor on top of that it’s hard to dress for it. We supply our employees with Helly Hansen insulated coveralls and we found that’s the best thing to wear out there in the cold.

“We also supply the guys with Helly Hansen balaclavas that cover up your whole head. Our trucks are equipped with two heaters in case one breaks down.

“This isn’t our first rodeo. We know how to keep our trucks serviced and

ready to go in the wintertime. Nothing looks worse than a tow truck behind a tow truck.”

Action Towing is the first area responder for heavy oilfield tow jobs and accident recovery with its specialty fleet of vehicles that includes a 40-ton sliding boom recovery unit and a monster 60-ton tandem-steering, tri-drive tow truck dubbed “Tow Mater” and painted in bright yellow company colours.

“The recovery unit has got winches on it so you can stretch the boom out and run winch lines out to the unit that’s rolled,” explained Buhnai. “With the use of the boom and winches you can stand things back up.”

Action towing also has an air cushion recovery unit used for righting tipped trailers, tankers and fifth wheel trailers at accident sites and there have been plenty of those this winter.

“We’ve had a couple of two-truck collisions on Highway 16 – one in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan and we’ve had some guys just rolling their trucks on the back roads,” said Buhnai.

“Sometimes it’s due to icy roads and poor visibility and sometimes it’s the same as accidents in the summertime – just not paying attention.” ɸ Page B21

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

B21

Stranded drivers make the bulk of winter tows ɺ Page B20 Action Towing also provides safety and traffic control services at accidents and drivers are trained to react to safety and environmental threats from leaking fuel or spilled engine oil and antifreeze.

“In the winter when it’s cold, we get quite a few calls at nighttime,” added Buhnai. “Highway trucks and oilfield trucks are running 24/7, so lots of guys break down at midnight as well as dinner time.

“Safety is always a concern but at night time you have to be that much more careful.”

Cold weather leads to vehicle breakdowns with frozen air systems and brakes prompting most of the towing calls from stranded oilfield drivers.

“Breakdowns can occur in transit and while they are going down the

road. Sometimes they are working on a lease site for a few hours and things freeze up,” said Buhnai.

“If it gets too cold, we tell our employees to jump in the truck. There’s no sense losing fingers over a tow job.

“We supply the gloves for most of the guys and they have three or four pairs of gloves going at the same time so they’ve got gloves warming on the heater.”

Tow truck driver Dan Lougheed knows a thing or two about working in the cold. He got the call to work that memorable frosty weekend this past December when it dipped to -51 C with the wind.

It was his coldest day of work during his three and half years with Action Towing.

“I was up north pulling drive shafts and towing trucks,” he said. “Basically,

Action Towing dispatched one its boom recovery trucks to a winter rollover of a mobile home near Maidstone. Photo courtesy of Action Towing & Recovery.

it just froze up trucks. I caged lots of brakes – the air lines wouldn’t release brakes.

“The wind – like laying under a truck to pull a driveshaft off or something like that with the wind blowing underneath the truck – that’s gotta be the worst part.”

To stay warm, Lougheed bundles up in his Helly Hansen coveralls and balaclava along with warm gloves and winter boots.

On the day of the story interview it was -26 C and Lougheed was also wearing a hoodie and wool socks to drive off in his 30-ton C500 tri-drive tow truck.

Lougheed works outside in the cold for about 15 minutes during a basic hook up buy says “It’s a tougher one when you’re running air lines or having to cage brakes. It could be a half hour to an hour.

“If you get too cold you just jump in the truck for few minutes and jump back out and keep going.

“The heat is always on in the truck so you jump in and take your gloves off and boots to warm up your toes. I usually have a thermos in the truck too.

“It’s always nice to see to see warm weather come around.”

Action Towing has added a few

Supervisor Ken Cryderman gets set to hook up a fuel truck to a 60-ton tandem steering, tri-drive tow truck on a cold winter’s day.

lowboys to its fleet recently that will give the company the ability to haul heavy service rigs, flushbys and coil tubing trucks to well sites during spring breakup and road bans using a new a 40-wheel trailer combination “We also added a towing unit to the fleet,” said Buhnai. “That gives us more diversity and more units and allows us to keep up with the demand better.”

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Dual level gauge raises bar on Àuid measurement Lloydminster – The H2Oil dual level gauge manufactured and distributed “We haven’t tried to sell too many of the dual level systems until now.

by Sign Language Ltd. in Lloydminster is literally raising the bar on fluid level We’ve been testing it for a few years. Now, we’ve got it to where we want it to measurements in oilfield tanks. be. We’re going to start pushing it.

The fluid measurement system measures both oil and water levels in tanks “Our system with the board is about $2,500 with installation. It can pay and indicates the measurement on the same gauge for itself pretty fast.” board enabling operators and haulers to better The H2Oil dual level system is also environmanage fluid levels and avoid hauling mixed loads. mentally friendly and safer since no climbing is The product has been four years in the making. needed to open taps when measurements are taken It is officially being launched in the marketplace by and overflow and spillage is eliminated. Water levlead inventor Brian Watchel along with his brothels can be recorded easily simply by reading the iners Gerald and David at Sign Language following dicator. field trials and modifications.

“If a company sends a water truck and the op“Controlling mixed loads of water and oil saves erator is sucking off the three foot level, it tells him money,” he said. “You’re not mixing loads or havif he’s got a full load of water so he knows he’s not ing to separate them again which will cost more mixing the loads up,” said Watchel. money.

Watchel says he got the idea from his custom“If you haul water to your own disposal well ers who like the one float system but wanted to you will not have to spend the extra time and monknow the interface to determine how much oil and ey to recover oil that has been dumped into the water is in the tank at any time. disposal.

“It just came to us one day,” said Watchel.

“We knew about one guy who hauled 30 me“We made a little one and put one in a tank and it tres of water but actually he hauled 10 metres of worked. We changed the vent cap so it couldn’t be water and 20 metres of oil and took it to a disposal knocked out. We also patented a pulley arm and it that wasn’t his company’s and dumped it. He lost doesn’t freeze the pulley or cables.”

120 barrels of oil at $60 a barrel. That’s $4,000 he The water level float consists of a stainless steel gave away right there.” cradle and a polyethylene tub filled with liquid that The H2Oil gauge follows on the success of helps it rise from the bottom with the water level the Watchels’ gauge board manufacturing that the aided by a set of cables and pulleys that feature brothers started years ago to diversify their oilfield sealed bearings. sign making business.

“Even if the pulleys get oil on them they will They improved that product by making a 6-inch still turn on the bearings,” said Watchel. wide board out of 18-gauge galvanized metal that The H2Oil dual level gauge can also be linked prevented them from being torn off in high winds to a SCADA system to automatically monitor waand followed that up by making a complete gauge ter and oil levels in remote wells. board system.

Monitoring the oil and water enables the op“The signs were our main business but with the Brian Watchel shows off some of the unassem- erator to maximize production. The wellhead pump guys we are selling our normal one float system to, bled components of a new H2Oil dual level gauge speed can be varied to obtain the best flow rate for system to easily measure water and oil in tanks. it’s getting to be a bigger part of it,” said Watchel. the oil.

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

C-Section

February 2010

Oilman of the Year just not the retiring type Lloydminster – Ron Milne is not only this year’s Oilman of the Year for the block of solid drilling he and his crew earned a safety award ever year.

43rd annual Lloydminster Heavy Crude Open Bonspiel March 17-21, he’s also a “What we used to do when I started on the rigs – don’t even try that – don’t 69-year-old action figure for the industry. even talk about that. It’s all together different now,” he said noting safety and Retirement in an easy chair is not the life for him, although he likes fishing technology are the biggest changes he’s seen during his career. and enjoys summer camping at Ministicklin Lake north of Paradise Hill.

Milne worked his way out of retirement driving a pilot truck for Kam’s GenFresh from a vacation in Disneyland with his wife Phyllis and four grandkids, eral Oilfield Hauling in 1998 and followed that up by launching his own hot shot he was right back into his daily routine that starts with a brisk morning walk in company called RPM Enterprises with a one-ton picker truck. the park.

He sold the company in 2004 and drove relief for the new owners into 2005.

In fact, he was set to fly out the door of Northwell Rentals Inc., The same year he waded into selling two days a week for Northwell Rentals and when Pipeline News came calling. He works there part-time in two days for Lash Enterprises that his daughter Kathy co-owns. His other daughoutside oilfield equipment rental sales. ter Colleen also works there as a bookkeeper.

“Ron is a very active person. He needs to have a purpose Last summer, Milne made the move to sell part-time exclusively for Northand something to do every day,” said his boss Dave Heck. “He well, a decision that Heck says has worked out great. is a very fit and walks to stay in shape.”

“We have been building a team here for years that works together and has He joked that he hopes to get 10 more years of work common goals about the way we go about our business, Ron fits very well into out of him before he does pack it in. that philosophy.

One of Milne’s next physical tasks is “He is service oriented and I am sure the guys on our team to type out his work resume and accepwill be very happy he has been chosen as the Oilman of the Year,” tance speech for the bonspiel banquet, added Heck. but he could run out of paper covering “I am quite proud one of our staff members has all of his bases. reached that elite level. It speaks well for us at His career is a “been there, done Northwell to be associated with that that” type of career, highlighted by 19 quality of people.” years of working on drilling rigs in Heck says he has known Milne western Canada. He learned the ropes for 15 years and hired him partly along the way. based on his knowledge of the inHe was just 16 when he landed dustry and the contacts he has. his first oilfield job with Canadian “He was also generally well Oilfield Maintenance in 1956 in Oxliked and accepted in the commubow, Sask. nity which is important when you He followed that up with some have someone in outside sales,” trenching and pipeline work with other added Heck. companies in Oxbow before CommonJohn Stanyer, chair of the bonwealth Drilling Rigs signed him to rig work spiel, says the selection of the Oilin 1960 in Estevan. man of the Year candidate is based “I worked from Manitoba right through on picking someone like Ron who Ron Milne, who works part-time at Northwell Rentals, will throw the to B.C. travelling over all the country. I did has been in the oilpatch in the area Àrst ceremonial rock at the Lloyd oilmen’s bonspiel. everything from roughneck to pushing tools. I for years and has been a good supdid all of the steps,” said Milne. porter of the community.”

His finest hour though was his role supervising the building of single drilling Milne has been a member of the OTS for 27 years and helped to organize rigs for Bow Island Drilling in Calgary from 1973-78. For oilfield history buffs, numerous annual Heavy Oil Technical Symposiums.

Bow Island was a division of Thompson Drilling.

He is also the president of the Lloydminster Oilfield Social Club which hosts “I loved building the rigs,” said Milne. “I stayed in the yard and built rigs all an annual contractors’ banquet each summer that attracts a crowd of 600 to 800 the time. I built single drilling rigs. I worked with welders and mechanics and people to the Stockade Convention Centre. labourers. I was the supervisor.

Milne says he was surprised when Stanyer phoned him to offer him the hon“Every day you saw the result of what you were doing. I had about six to eight our of being Oilman of the Year. portable welders working for me.”

“I asked him why it was me?” and he reports Stanyer told him, “Your name Another major 20 year chunk on his work life was running his own company, came up.”

“It means a lot to me for all the years I have been in the oilpatch,” said Milne.

R & P Pressure Washing, that he and his wife Phyllis started in Calgary in 1977.

They moved it in 1978 to Lloydminster, where it grew and thrived before selling “As soon as I was called I went home and told my family. My daughters were so happy.” in 1997 to a local buyer.

In fact, Colleen told Pipeline News it was great to hear her dad call and tell her Milne’s only failure was sticking with his retirement plans that he shelved he was appointed Oilman of the Year. after just eight restless months.

“I told him ‘good for you.’ ” “You got to do something,” he said. “I plan to keep working unless my health “It’s very exciting and I am very proud of him. He has accomplished a lot fails.”

Surprisingly, Milne never suffered an injury on the rigs and during a four year through the years.”

C2

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Astro Boiler steaming ahead Stoughton – Astro Boiler is finding the Stoughton and Estevan oil and gas market to be a hotspot this winter for its mobile steam service business based in Tilley, Alberta.

The company recently purchased a 10-acre property northwest of Stoughton to base a Saskatchewan fleet of five mobile steamers.

Several crews are busy providing steam services to frac crews working around the clock south of Estevan and the company is eyeing the North Dakota area.

“I’ve contacted some people in North Dakota and they are very interested in our equipment,” said owner Syl Tateson, who also sells and rents mobile boilers.

“They don’t have any of that down there. I am not sure if we can get it across the border with all of the restrictions. We are just looking into that.

“We’d like to make more of a foray into southern Saskatchewan, too.”

At the frac site near Estevan, Astro Boiler is using two 80-hp mobile boilers mounted in a 27-foot long gooseneck trailer equipped with a 500 gallon water tank. It can produce 3.2 million BTUs of dry steam per hour needed to keep oilfield equipment warm.

They also have three 50-hp mobile boilers on hand that can produce 1.75 million BTUs of dry steam.

“If it’s -30 Celsius with the wind blowing everything goes to hell in a hurry,” said Tateson.

“When they are fracing the well, they need heat on the wellhead so it won’t freeze up. They usually frac with fresh water so they would start out with nine 400 barrel tanks.

“The water is pre-heated and we come in when the frac crews arrive and heat the valves so they don’t freeze up.

“We have to heat the wellhead and the manifold

This is the heart of an Astro Boiler unit.

Photo courtesy Astro Boiler

where they pump the fluid through.”

The company has provided steam services to the oil and gas sector and for pipeline and river crossings and for mining companies in Alberta, British Columbia, North West Territories and Yukon since 1997.

“This is our first year in Saskatchewan,” said Tateson. “We were down here for a short period of time last year and did very little work so we thought we’d try it again.

“This is where there are lots of opportunities.

Alberta is still in the doldrums as far as oil and gas goes.

“We’ve been in Fort McMurray when they were drilling under rivers for pipelines. They need heat on their fluid. It’s the same as a drilling rig.

“They have to have mud to drill with. We keep the mud warm so it doesn’t freeze up and their pumps don’t freeze up.”

Heat is required to warm blowout preventers (BOPSs) on service rigs and Astro Boiler supplies 16-inch by 20-inch “ruffneck” heaters for that work.

“These are big heaters about two feet square

and they’ve got an electric fan on them. Steam goes through the coils in it so when the fan blows, it blows hot air on the BOPS,” explained Tateson.

“You cover the BOPs with canvass tarps so the temperature in there is about 70 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s what you need for the hydraulics to work properly if there’s a blowout.

“The industry really couldn’t operate without steam. Steam is usually required when it’s anything below freezing.

“If a valve or anything minor freezes up they’ve got to have steam on it otherwise they are shut down.

There is probably six or seven million dollars worth of equipment sitting on the lease and they don’t want it tied up over a little bit of frost.”

The alternative to using mobile boilers is a boiler mounted in a skid shack but a large truck is needed to move those units from location to location.

“Because ours are mounted on those gooseneck trailers we have trucks that hook up and tow them behind the service rig or the frac crew. They are as mobile as they are,” said Tateson.

Astro Boiler is busiest this winter in the Brooks, Alberta, area and in the oilpatch around Stoughton and south of Estevan where the company’s mobile units continue to be put to the test in cold conditions.

“On one particular job in the Estevan area they started out fracing,” explained Tateson. “This is a major well where they figured they would be for five weeks. They fraced the zones and as they were coming out of the hole, they sanded off (plugged the hole with sand) and lost a tool down there.

“So right now they are fishing for it with a service rig. They have all this fluid and water because they need it on a service rig to go down and find this tool.

They need heat as well for their blow back tanks and pumps.”

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Boyd bullish on the impact of new

Q& A Bill Boyd

with Minister of Energy and Resources

There is a possibility that Saskatchewan will overtake Alberta in terms of conventional oil production in 2010 for the first time ever.

Saskatchewan Energy and resources Minister Bill Boyd was interviewed by Pipeline News by phone in late January from his constituency office in Kindersley and asked to share his thoughts about where the energy sector and the province are headed for the remainder of 2010.

Q. What is your take on the oil and gas sector for 2010?

A: We are very optimistic about the oil and gas

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sector for 2010. We believe that drilling will be very strong and production will be very strong. There is a possibility that Saskatchewan will overtake Alberta in terms of conventional oil production in 2010 for the first time ever.

The prices are relatively strong on the oil side which promotes growth, drilling and increased production.

Q. What are your thoughts about the prospects for the gas sector this year?

A: Gas prices are a little soft right now, so we are not expecting a great deal of activity in that area. Of course, you just never know though. If prices all of a sudden spike for some reason like a cold snap in the eastern market in Canada or in the eastern U.S. this winter, we could see prices move up. That always has a tendency to encourage development.

Gas is a fairly small part of the overall equation in Saskatchewan. It’s much different than in Alberta.

Q. Do expect land sales to continue their momentum like we saw in the latter part of 2009?

A: Yes we do. We anticipate strong land sales in 2010. These things, of course, are always based on the price of oil. If we see oil in that $80 and plus per barrel range, we will continue to see strong land sales.

We think that the new technology that’s being used in many areas across Saskatchewan right now – horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracing – that’s really unlocked some resources that weren’t available before. The recovery rate is a lot greater and as a result of that, stronger payback.

Q. Do you think the planned carbon capture project with Montana and the Canada/U.S. federal governments will move ahead this year?

A: We still are of the opinion that this is a very good project. We have been working back and forth with the federal government to provide them with all of the information that is necessary. We understand our application is being viewed favourably. We are anticipating a positive response. We still haven’t received it, but we are hopeful. ɸ Page C5

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

C5

recovery technologies for 2010

Saskatchewan Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd.

File photo

ɺ Page C4 Q: Are you disappointed nuclear power has been shelved until at least 2020 before another review?

A: The numbers didn’t add up to allow for a nuclear facility at this point. That may change in the future and we would look forward to reviewing

that. However, we see our growth needs in terms of electrical demand for the next decade or so being approximately 1,100 megawatts. If the economy grows quicker than anticipated that demand may be greater and then there would be a need to review this policy.

That’s the demand for this time period and it doesn’t grow all in one lump sum. It grows in increments on a yearly basis. To bring on a nuclear facility was just too much additional capacity at this particular time. We will look at in the future.

Q: Does that mean more power will be generated by natural gas or from coal?

A: Not necessarily. It’s a possibility to have more electrical generation from natural gas. There are other sources that we are looking at. We have a request for proposals out for wind energy right now. We are looking at the potential of biomass and other renewables – potentially more hydro resources coming on in the future. Those come in smaller increments so it’s easy to match that kind of growth to the growing need for electrical generation.

Q: What type of economic opportunities do you see coming from greener energy and practices?

A: Certainly, we think that wind, potentially solar, biomass and hydro – all green sources of energy are sources that the province is looking to utilize in the future.

Q: What projects are moving ahead in 2010?

A: I am very optimistic that the continued use of new technology such as horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracing will open up a number of areas.

I expect there will be more development in Swift Current and the Lower Shaunavon areas and the Kindersley/Coleville and Kerrobert/Dodsland areas

right through up to Lloydminster. These are very viable areas for that kind of technology.

We are also optimistic that we will see some oilsands development in the province in 2010.

Q: What are the priorities for your ministry and province?

A: Our priorities are to see a continued growth for the oil and gas sector and the minerals sector of our economy. We hope we will see a strong return of potash sales in 2010 and renewing contracts with important countries like China and India. They are very important consumers of Saskatchewan potash.

In agriculture which this constituency (Kindersley area) has a vast amount of, we are always looking for a season that promotes a good crop. This area is dry so we are very hopeful of lots of snow this winter and an early spring rain. (Bill Boyd and his wife Lynn operate a pedigreed seed feed farm near Eston).

And for the livestock sector, we are optimistic that we will see prices improve to provide for stronger returns for farmers and ranchers.

Note: Premier Brad Wall and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer signed a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2009 to work together on a joint project to capture carbon from coal and gas-fired power generation and store it deep underground.

This $270 million project would help Saskatchewan to meet the federal government’s target and the province’s target to reduce GHG emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020. Saskatchewan has committed $50 million for the project and awaits a $100 million contribution from Ottawa to proceed.

Similarly, Montana has requested $100 million for the U.S. government and is waiting for further word on funding from Washington.

C6

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Husky to build “green” regional of¿ce in Lloyd

The future of Husky’s existing ofÀce tower has yet to be announced.

Lloydminster – Husky Energy will establish a greener footprint in the City of Lloydminster with the spring 2010 construction start of a new energy-efficient administrative office to house its expanding operations.

Husky has signed a letter of intent with Cana Construction Limited to construct the building. An official sod turning ceremony is in the planning stages.

The new three-storey structure will incorporate energy saving features into the design including solar panels and an “intelligent” building automation system to reduce energy consumption and maximize building comfort.

According to Husky spokesperson Graham White, the construction will generate numerous jobs and economic spinoffs for local contractors, suppliers and tradespersons.

The new office will be located just east of the company’s existing office tower on Highway 16 and 45th Ave. on the Saskatchewan side of the border town.

It will provide staff and visitors with 9,800 square metres of interior

space with an anticipated completion by the end of 2011. The future of the current tower has yet to be determined.

“The Lloydminster office building reflects Husky’s commitment to the community and reinforces the importance of Husky’s operations in this region,” John Lau, president and CEO said in a news release.

The announcement of the new building follows the closure on Nov. 30, 2009, of Husky’s purchase of Penn West’s heavy oil properties in east central Alberta and Saskatchewan and will make room for additional staff to operate and manage the new acquisitions.

“We will capitalize on our technical expertise and take advantage of operational synergies by integrating these assets into the company’s extensive heavy oil operations,” reported Lau. Husky is a significant employer in the area with heavy oil exploration, production and refining assets covering more than 8,000 square kilometres of land in Alberta and Saskatchewan. ɸ Page C7

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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Husky Energy building an environmentally friendly of¿ce ɺ Page C6 In the Lloydminster area, Husky operates an 82,000 barrel per day heavy oil upgrader, an asphalt refinery, the Meridian Co-generation Power Plant, an ethanol plant, a logistics centre and hundreds of kilometers of pipeline.

The integrated oil and gas company is also a major player in Canada’s offshore East Coast oil and gas industry with headquarters in Calgary.

A new Lloydminster office is welcomed news to new Lloydminster Mayor Jeff Mulligan, who aims to engage the oil and gas industry in Lloydminster more closely during his term.

“The city has a long history of working in partnership with Husky and Mr. Lau on progressive initiatives,” said Mulligan during the announcement.

“The commitment to a new office building reinforces the prominent role of Husky as a major contributor to the local economy and energizes the city’s ongoing economic development plans.”

The focal point of the building will be a three storey atrium and staircase visible from the exterior.

Features include flexible large open areas, an interpretive centre, high ceilings, a cafeteria, a fitness centre and elevator lobbies on each floor.

“Husky is building an environmentally friendly facility that will utilize energy efficient technologies and practices,” added Lau. Additional features include high performance window glazing and exterior wall systems to reduce energy consumption and R30 insulation in the roof along with reflective materials to further cut energy use and heat loss.

Oilsands Quest CEO resigns to lead Canshale Corp.

Calgary - T. Murray Wilson, executive chairman of Oilsands Quest Inc., will assume the additional roles of president and chief executive officer with the resignation of Christopher Hopkins who will lead a private company pursuing oil shale.

Hopkins, who resigned Jan. 15, is the chairman, president and CEO of Canshale Corp., a company he formed to pursue the development of oil shale assets near Pasquia Hills in east-central Saskatchewan.

The new company plans to acquire the 198,187 hectares (489,730 acres) of exploration permits from Oilsands Quest for $1 million in cash and eight million shares of Canshale. The sale is conditional on Canshale raising a minimum of $12.5 million. Following the initial Canshale financing, Oilsands Quest will retain an ownership interest of between 10 per cent and 16 cent in the company.

The exploration permits provide for the right to explore, mine, quarry and work the permit lands, but not to produce or recover oil shales except for test purposes until a lease has been granted. The permits were granted in 2006 and 2007 and have five-year terms.

This is an architectural rendering of one view of Husky’s planned new administrative building.

Image submitted

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

PSAC to boost public relations on energy sector survey Calgary – Drivers of oil and gas vehicles in southern Saskatchewan may not be as courteous or as safety minded as their counterparts in Western Canada, while oil and gas companies in the Lloydminster area may be generating too much noise as they go about their business.

These were just two of the unusual findings of a comprehensive Ipsos-Reid survey of public attitudes about the oil and gas industry is areas with high oil and gas activity in parts of western Canada.

The survey was conducted in 2009 for the Petroleum Services Association of Canada that represents the service, supply and manufacturing sectors within the upstream petroleum industry.

PSAC is responding to public concerns by building a public website, scheduled for release early in 2010 to answer the most frequently asked questions about oil and gas, and provide an open line of communication for citizens to provide feedback.

“We are pleased to see the overall positive views on the industry,” said Roger Soucy, PSAC president in a news release.

“At the same time, we recognize we have some work to do in terms of communications, livability and environmental issues in the communities we work in and around.”

The purpose of the survey was to establish what people living in and around areas of oil and gas activity really think of the industry, and help industry better understand areas of concern.

The telephone survey covered 12 oil and gas regions encompassing over 135 communities across the western Canadian sedimentary basin and was published in November, 2009.

Survey respondents across western Canada pointed to some key ways in which the industry could improve, such as strengthening its communication with local community members, minimizing the impacts that operations can have on the livability of the area, and protecting the local environment.

Overall, the survey showed that the public has a relatively positive overall view of the oil and gas industry, citing job creation, economic benefits and community service as key positives.

Almost three-in-five survey respondents (58 per cent) had a positive overall opinion of the oil and gas industry and over three-quarters (79 per cent) said that

communications from the oil and gas industry in their community are believable.

The survey included Bonnyville, Drayton Valley, Edson, Grande Prairie, High Prairie/Slave Lake, Lloydminster /Vermilion, Medicine Hat/Brooks, Peace River, Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House in Alberta, as well as northeast British Columbia and southern Saskatchewan.

Southern Sask.

The southern Saskatchewan region survey covered the communities of Arcola, Benson, Bromhead, Colgate, Forget, Froude, Goodwater, Griffin, Halbrite, Hitchcock, Kisbey, Lampman, Macoun, Midale, Ralph, Stoughton, Tribune and Willmar.

Almost nine-in-10 of residents surveyed in those communities (89 per cent) agreed that industry provides local jobs, 88 per cent said the industry is believable, and 85 per cent agreed that industry contributes financially to the community.

In addition, 72 per cent of local respondents viewed the industry favourably, compared to the survey average of 58 per cent, and 81 per cent in the southern Saskatchewan area agreed that industry has a positive relationship with local communities (average 71 per cent).

Local respondents also rated the oil and gas industry significantly higher than average for participating in the community, treating residents and property with respect, protecting public health and safety, minimizing mess and noise, listening to and communicating with local communities, responding to concerns, and protecting the environment.

Southern Saskatchewan area respondents rated the industry slightly lower than average for driving safely and courtesy.

To address the quality of life issues identified in the survey, PSAC, in conjunction with other industry groups is developing tools and information to help field employees conduct their operations with greater respect for residents and their property.

A toolkit will encourage and support “good neighbour” habits such as closing gates when crossing property lines, disposing of garbage properly, slowing down to reduce dust and noise, driving safely, and scheduling operations to limit extra traffic at peak times. ɸ Page C9

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PSAC looking to collaborate on programs with partners within the industry ɺ Page C8 “We expect these industry-wide initiatives to have a positive impact on the communications and quality of life issues identified by survey respondents,” said Soucy.

“But we know this can’t be a one-time shot.

PSAC, along with our industry partners, will continue to collaborate on programs that strengthen our communications with the public and protect that quality of life small communities are known for.”

Lloydminster area In the Lloydminster/Vermilion area, almost nine-in-10 of residents (87 per cent) agreed that industry provides local jobs, 82 per cent agreed the industry is believable, and 78 per cent said that industry contributes financially to the community.

The Lloydminster/Vermilion region survey covered the communities of Blackfoot, Clandonald, Dewberry, Hazeldine, Islay, Kitscoty, Marwayne, Streamstown and Vermilion.

Local residents rated the oil and gas industry lower on some other measures.

For example, 56 per cent of respondents viewed industry favourably, compared to the survey average of 58 per cent and 54 per cent agreed that industry participates in the community (average 69 per cent).

Local respondents rated the oil and gas industry higher than average for having a positive relationship in the community, treating property with respect and minimizing mess.

On the downside, Lloydminster/Vermilion area residents rated the industry lower than average for following local laws, protecting public health and safety, minimizing noise, responding to community concerns, and protecting the environment.

“Environmental protection is a more complex issue,” said Soucy.

“The fact is, our industry is already working hard to reduce its environmental footprint, but we haven’t been saying much about that.

“We are going to start communicating more proactively about our environmental initiatives, while we continue to conduct environmental research, develop and use advanced technologies, and implement best practices.”

Diaz to drill ¿ve more heavy oil wells in Lloydminster Calgary – Diaz Resources Ltd. will dip another toe in the Lloydminster heavy oil pool with the assistance of Harvest Operations Corp. Harvest will drill five new horizontal wells for Diaz to operate on a 50 per cent working interest.

The additional five-well program for 2010 follows the successful drilling of three new horizontals wells with Harvest on Diaz’s Lloydminster area holdings from November 2009 to early January, 2010.

Diaz is an exploration and production company based in Calgary that acquired approximately 2,000 acres of freehold and Crown land south and west of Lloydminster in 2009 with a 50 to 80 per cent working interest.

The most recent well was drilled horizontally 450 meters in the Lloyd formation and is currently producing 50 barrels of oil per day (25 net). This well is structurally the lowest of four wells drilled in the area since 2008.

The previously drilled horizontal well was brought on production Dec. 24, 2009, and is currently producing 70 Bopd (35 net).

This well is structurally the highest well of the four drilled to date. Based on Diaz’s interpretation of the geology and seismic, the additional five-well program being proposed is anticipated to be structurally as high as the Dec. 24 producing well.

The first well drilled came on production Nov. 9, 2009 and has produced 5,500 barrels of oil to date.

The well has recently experienced a sand problem which Diaz believes can be partially mitigated with a workover that is being planned.

The obstruction has resulted in high water production and restricted oil production to approximately 20 Bopd (10 net).

The initial well on the property came on production in October 2008, and continues to produce 30 Bopd (15 net) with cumulative production of 14,000 barrels.

Diaz also owns about 3,000 acres of land in the Birdbear horizontal play in west central Saskatchewan where the company plans to drill a horizontal well in the first quarter of 2010.

In addition they own about 5,000 acres in the Shaunavon play and have a block of land in the Viking play.

Community service and employment are among the Àrst good things that came to the minds of people surveyed by the Petroleum Services Association of Canada.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

A vow to curl forever or sing O Canada

Another great delivery by Ted Collins during the 40th annual event.

Lloydminster – Being retired has its benefits. Ted Collins has all the time in the world to perfect his curling skills and scare the competition into believing he is still a threat to win big at the upcoming 43rd annual Lloydminster Heavy Crude Open Bonspiel.

“I will be 80 this June,” said Collins. “I am hoping that I can curl when I am 80. If I can’t curl maybe they can get me to sing O Canada.

“I will keep on practising. Hopefully, maybe I can win something again.”

“I like the competition and the fellowship. I have

known more people all over western Canada since I started curling when I was young.

“A lot of them aren’t here anymore. I’ve curled against some of the professional curlers like (Brier) champs Hector Gervais, Matt Baldwin and Bob Pickering. I’ve had a lot of success and I’ve been lucky.”

One year, he even won the Legends event for seniors at the Best Western Wayside Inn Curling Classic in Lloydminster.

Collins comes into this year’s event, to be held March 17-21, as a six time A-event champ and a perennial sentimental favourite as the oilman who founded the event in 1968 – becoming its first champion that same year.

He has curled in all 42 previous bonspiels along with living legends Tom Fischer, Keith Collins and Howie Cayford, who are all expected to play in 2010 at the Lloydminster Curling Club.

Collins says it’s the combination of competition and fellowship that motivated him to launch the event and keeps him coming back to the oilmen’s and the rink.

“The big thing with that spiel was the fellowship,” said Collins, who recalls the story of how the Lloydminster bonspiel got its start.

“I lived in Lone Rock at the time and we curled there,” he said. “Me and three other guys used to go to the oilmen’s bonspiel in Edmonton. It was called the International Oilmen’s Bonspiel. Everybody took

a week off and went because that was breakup time in April.

“I got home from one of them one time and I thought we should have one in Lloydminster. I phoned the president of the Lloydminster curling club and talked to him. He said ‘Yes, that’s a good idea,’ so we started an oilmen’s league of eight teams. ɸ Page C11

Ted Collins is one of four curlers to play in all 42 events. The fab four hope to make it 43 in a row this year.

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Continuing a great oil¿eld tradition ɺ Page C10 “Then I started going around promoting the bonspiel. At first it didn’t go over too good, but then I talked with a few other guys and they helped me out. We started with 32 teams and the minimum entry fee of $5 per player. Right away, the industry itself got behind us.”

This year’s entry fee is $400 per team and includes dozens of cash and prize donations and eight event sponsorships provided by oilfield companies who keep it going.

“I had in mind not only the curling but the people in the offices and the people who run the businesses and the foreman and pushes to get together and have a celebration,” said Collins. “The bonspiel turned out to be a real success.

“We have a great committee now and without them we couldn’t hold it. I really appreciate what they are doing to keep it alive.

“I hope we have 72 to 80 teams like we had last year. There’s a downturn in the oilfield but I think the bonspiel will get the support.”

At one time, the event drew as many as 160 teams and more interest was added when the committee decided to select an Oilman of the Year in 1972.

Collins himself was named for that honour in 1992 – the 25th anniversary event.

This year’s Oilman of the Year is Ron Milne and Collins knows how he feels.

“When I won it, I felt honoured,” he said. “It’s a great thing to have. You are honoured for what you contributed to the oilfield.”

Collins has a lengthy history contracting oil wells for Husky and other companies starting with his own business in 1953 in Lone Rock.

He also got involved in the water truck business and in 1963 formed another company called C & L Well Operators serving the areas of Lashburn, Maidstone, and Kitscoty.

“I also operated batteries in Waseca, Furness

and Maidstone so I was into quite a bit of areas.

Later on, I worked on exploration,” he said.

“In other words, I would look after an oil well in Turtleford, Macklin, Ryslyvia and Vermilion and Frog Lake on an exploration basis. I contracted for Husky with my own company. I had all the men to operate a battery 24 hours day. We cleaned the oil and shipped it.

“Husky was my main employer. They were a good company to work for all those years.

“They treated me really well. I know that every time there was a slowdown, the word always came out of the office that made me feel pretty good – to make sure I was working.”

Collins retired in 2001 but continues to cheer lead the bonspiel that his name is forever associated with.

“That’s one of my legacies I guess,” he said. “I was the founder of it but I had a lot of help. For instance, Universal Industries was the first sponsor that I went to see.

“There was a fellow named Walter “Slim” Thorpe that was one of the owners and he sponsored the first event. We still have Universal Industries as a sponsor.”

Collins as Oilman of the Year in 1992.

Collins says another great thing about the event is the networking that helped him land jobs over the years.

“I think they got to know what I did and what I contracted,” he said. “I worked for a lot of different companies and that was the reason.

“I don’t think anybody comes here to make a deal. They come to socialize. They meet you and they know who you are. It’s good for the industry.”

Collins delivered the Àrst rock at the opening ceremonies of the 1992 bonspiel, when he was Oilman of the Year.

Photos submitted

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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Provident continues its lean streak with sale to Storm Calgary – Provident Energy Trust is banking on being a leaner and more profitable energy income trust this year as it vowed to be last year.

The company edged closer to its goal with the $190 million sale of its oil and natural gas assets in west central Alberta to Storm Ventures International Inc. The latest sale announced in the last week of December is part of an ongoing plan by Provident to shed its non-core properties and follows the sale of the trust’s Lloydminster and southern Saskatchewan properties in 2009.

“This transaction is another key step towards repositioning Provident as a sustainable growth vehicle and further enhances our financial flexibility moving forward,” said Tom Buchanan, president and CEO in a news release.

Provident’s previously announced consolidated

2010 capital budget of $142 million remains unchanged.

Approximately $55 million of capital spending will be directed towards the company’s key upstream oil and gas assets in the areas of Peace River Arch/Dixonville in northwest Alberta and southern Alberta.

The west central Alberta operating area produces approximately 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, comprised of approximately 70 per cent natural gas and 30 per cent liquids.

Approximately 25 per cent of the production is from trust unit interests and 50 per cent is operated.

Production during November 2009 was 5,130 BOE per day comprised of approximately 667 BOE a day of light and medium oil, 763 BOE per day of natural gas liquids and 22.2 mmcf a day of natural gas.

Total proved reserves were 10.5 million BOE as of Sept. 30, 2009, while proved plus probable reserves

More gas pains ahead in 2010 says PSAC Calgary – New markets and new uses for natural gas will be needed to help pull the industry out its recession in western Canada.

That’s the opinion of Roger Soucy, president of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada, who spoke about natural gas in an interview aired on Alberta’s Prime Time television show on the Access channel in Calgary in December.

“On the natural gas side we probably need to be certainly north of six dollars per mcf – probably at least in the seven dollar range to encourage ad influx of drilling,” said Soucy on Prime Time.

“I think we need to start looking – and a lot of people are talking about expanding our markets for the use of natural gas whether that’s exporting it to other markets other than the United States which is our only market right now – using it in other things like heavy transportation.

“Creating electricity is certainly a key one. All these things I think people need to start seriously looking at. It’s all going to take some time and we’ve got another tough 2010.”

Soucy’s comments follow the release of PSAC’s forecast on the oil and gas industry for 2010 published in November which predicts on average, natural gas prices of $5 Cdn/mcf for 2010 and crude oil prices of $72 US a barrel for WTI (west Texas intermediate).

“We are effectively moving into the third year of a downturn,” said Soucy. “The economic recovery is going to be long and slow and that will continue to

affect energy demand from the United States, Canada’s largest energy customer.

“The result of this is that 2010 will be a difficult year for the petroleum service sector. Companies have been trying to hold stead, but now we’re going to see some consolidation as the industry strives to remain profitable.”

were approximately 14.6 million BOE. The sale reflects transaction metrics of $38,000 per flowing BOE a day, $18.15 per BOE of proved reserves and $13.02 per BOE of proved plus probable reserves.

The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010 and the proceeds will help to reduce the company’s outstanding debt.

For Storm Ventures, the transaction with Provident gives the private Calgary-based oil and gas explorer and producer a solid foothold in west central Alberta with lots of growth potential.

“The west central Alberta properties we are acquiring provide us with a low decline asset with gas exploitation upside and good facility exposure in a prolific producing fairway,” said Matthew Brister, president and CEO of Storm in a news statement.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Osika steams ahead of the pack with innovation

Jason Osika gets ready to turn off the steam after thawing a frozen Áow line.

Lloydminster – Cold winter weather is helping Osika Holdings Inc. in Lloydminster build up a head of steam thawing production equipment for heavy oil clients in the area.

“We are really busy. Just about every piece is out every day,” said Jason Osika, who owns the business. ”It’s probably due to the cold weather and lots of rig

activity. Cold weather is our best time. We wait for this every year.”

Osika has a diverse fleet of two trailer steamers, one vac truck, a steamer and vac combo truck, as well as two tankless pump trucks of his own invention to tackle everything from fluid transfers and containment fluid removal to steam jobs.

“The steamers are used for anything that’s frozen – flow lines and gas lines,” said Osika. “We also use them for washing wellheads and motors and anywhere there’s a spill or leak.

“Mostly it’s thawing flow lines and gas lines. It’s for production. If a producer’s gas line freezes, they can’t continue. Their motors won’t run and their burners won’t run.”

Osika can save clients a ton of money with his tankless pump trucks that he invented to cut the cost of emptying enviro vaults and get his business rolling back in 2005.

“I am the only guy who has a tankless truck unless someone copied mine,” said Osika. “I just thought it up one day. I heard talk of it being so expensive to empty an enviro vault and I thought of a way to make it cheaper.

“The average cost of a vac truck to empty a vault is over $100. These can do it for $40 and that includes thawing ice.

“We don’t need a steamer. In the winter time, you normally need a steam and a vac to thaw the ice and get it all sucked out whereas we can use the resources of the tank itself to thaw the ice. It takes it from a $300 bill to a $40 bill.

“We have one hose for sucking the fluid out and other one ties onto the tank itself. We pump from the enviro vault right into the tank. You don’t have to worry about taking the fluid somewhere else. It’s just all done right on site.”

Osika demonstrated how easy it was at a nearby production tank where he also used his combo steam and vac truck to show how it works to thaw out frozen gas line that stopped gas flowing to the burner.

“It could take five minutes or an hour and a half,” said Osika. “I have to troubleshoot to find out where it’s frozen. Nine out of 10 times, it’s frozen because the motor malfunctions.

“There is a heat trace on all the lines and if the motor goes down, the heat trace doesn’t work anymore. If there is too much moisture in the gas, the methanol can’t work properly either.”

Steam is applied to the exterior of the flow lines with a hand-held wand and heats up the entire line.

“I keep the flow going for the operator until he can light it (burner),” explained Osika.

The combo steam and vac truck made by Westec has a diesel fired boiler and a small triplex pump that pumps water through it, heating it as steam or water depending on the job requirements. ɸ Page C15

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Leading the way with great ideas

Jason Osika applied the steam wand inside the insulated liner of this frozen Áow line.

ɺ Page C14 “The only thing unique about is that it is a steamer and a vac truck built into one,” said Osika.

“It’s worked out really good. The service rigs really like the feature of it being able to wash the equipment and help clean out pipe.

“If they can’t get the sand out of the tubing, they have to get a pressure truck in to blow that tubing clear while we’re able to slurry the sand and create a water and sand mix and then it just runs out.”

The combo steamer has come in handy for cleaning up spills and containments and eliminates the cost of having two trucks.

“If you have something frozen and you have to suck it up – the oil around here is so thick – if there’s a spill a lot of times you have to heat it up to get it off the ground,” said Osika.

“Any containments that have water in them will have ice. So we just thaw out the ice and we are able to suck it up.”

The two steam trailers are used for thawing gas lines and flow lines and for smaller jobs – regular production thawing and washing. One trailer has an 800,000 BTU and the

other has a built-in 400,000 BTU unit.

As the demand for his services and equipment grows, Osika is planning to build a third tankless pumper that has proven to be his bread and butter.

“I started the business out with my oneton tankless truck,” he said. “It was supposed to be a part time job.

We got a steamer with it and we grew as there was more use for the steamers and the oneton trucks.”

He says the beauty of the tankless pumper is that is can tackle numerous jobs such as doing fluid transfers from one tank into another or transferring hot fluid from the top of the tank and putting it into the bottom where it’s cold to help with stinging or door pulls.

“With those trucks we don’t have any com-

petition,” said Osika.

“They are competing with a vac truck which is twice as expensive. In the winter, a vac truck needs a steamer to go with it or a combo unit. Those tankless trucks we have don’t need one at all.”

Osika has five employees who are busy year round steaming and washing dozens of motors and fire tubes on production tanks or cleaning up spills.

“We wash the equipment like wellheads and vaults,” said Osika. “Anything that’s happened over the winter we have to clean up once the snow goes away and starts showing all of the staining. There’s a lot of equipment that’s got to be cleaned and maintained.

“With wellheads, the seals always go on them and there’s always a mess somewhere to clean up.”

Ryan Turpin hooks up hoses from the tankless pumper to an enviro vault and another part of the production tank to empty the vault.

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

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Nordic to complete its 10 well program at Lloydminster soon Lake in the Peace River area of Alberta in 2010.

“We did some preliminary scouting in the area last summer and it’s thick heavy bush, so it requires winter drilling,” said Bain.

“We would like to get into that area sometime this quarter. There is a lot of good gas potential up there. It’s an area that Husky Energy and others are in.”

Nordic also has an 80 per cent interest in 31,999 gross acres of petroleum and natural gas leases in Preeceville, Sask., with rights to the basement.

Nordic had a busy year in 2009 and is stepping up its activities in 2010. Last summer, operations manager Matthew Barnard showed Pipeline News the inside the engine compartment of a Newco Tank Corp. battery.

Lloydminster – Nordic Oil & Gas Ltd. starts off 2010 with the potential to further increase its oil and gas production, most notably from its Lloydminster area properties, where it launched a new 10-well drilling program at the end of 2009.

The company has recently announced a new oil royalty trust to be called Nordic Oil Royalty Trust to raise $1 million for new exploration capital in the Lloydminster area.

Nordic is offering investors the opportunity to purchase 40 trust units at $25,000; in return, the fund will receive a five per cent “gross overriding royalty” on the production from Nordic’s existing wells plus the new wells that have been drilled. The funds generated from the royalty will be then be passed on to the unit holders.

There were eight producing wells on the properties prior to the 2009 drilling. Two of the new wells drilled at the end of 2009 have been placed on production.

It is anticipated that the additional five wells will be put on production in the coming weeks bringing the total number of wells there to 15.

Those additional seven wells were drilled to the deeper Dina zone in 2009 to a depth of approximately 450 metres to give the company additional targets that had the potential to be oil bearing.

Furthermore, an additional three wells will be drilled near Lloydminster during the first quarter of 2010 to complete the company’s 10-well program.

Nordic has the potential to drill about 25 other locations on its property. The shallower wells at Lloydminster can produce up to 20 to 25 barrels of oil a day.

“There is lots of potential that the company’s recent drilling program will lead to increased production from the deeper zones,” said Don Bain, corporate secretary. “Two new wells are now on production are we are currently evaluating the production levels from them both.

“These things (drilling new wells) don’t come cheap, so you always want to get some good returns. With oil hovering around the $80 mark, it makes it that much more attractive than, say, six months ago, let alone a year ago when oil prices saw the bottom fall.”

Nordic also plans to begin the exploration of the gas potential on its 6,000 acres of land at Talbot

“We did some drilling in summer of 2008,” added Bain. “We would like to get back to that area again too and drill for oil and natural gas.

“The company has a lot of good properties.

Right now, the focus is on areas where we know there is development and we can generate some revenue. Once that happens, we can turn our attention to some more exploration work.

“It’s been a busy winter and I expect it to continue. There is a lot going on. We’re hopeful we will come away with some success in all of our areas.”

C18

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

ERMC trains industry to be disaster ready Edmonton – Be prepared. The Boy Scout motto also applies to oil and gas explorers and producers in Saskatchewan and Alberta who require an emergency response plan (ERP) to protect public safety and the environment from incidents such as fire, spills, leaks, explosions and natural disasters.

Companies in both provinces follow the Directive 071 guidelines set out by the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board for emergency response planning.

The need to establish a decision framework and action plan so a licensee can quickly and effectively respond to an emergency has meant a boom in business for ERP developers such as Emergency Response Management Consulting (ERMC) in Edmonton.

“The demand for ERPs is increasing especially those industries where there is a regulatory instrument,” said Ed Wendlandt, manager of service delivery at ERMC. “The regulations are also becoming tighter so there’s more demand for those industries to be compliant.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, for example, recommends that all members have an ERP in place to deal with not just sour gas issues but all types of hazards that could occur.

“Public safety is the number one consideration,” said Wendlandt.

“There are things going on in the world – the Sept. 11 attacks and security related events in B.C. where Encana’s pipelines were targeted.

“Those things have changed people’s focus. There is the realization that the threat is just as real here.”

ERMC provides a complete turnkey ERP package of audits, plans, training, exercises, consulting and software to clients from Ontario to B.C. Their clients include public sector organizations,

Emergency response planning exercises can include an Incident Command Centre and observers to gauge the effectiveness of simulated incident responses.

Photo courtesy of ERMC

utilities, fertilizer, chemical mining and nuclear companies and oil and gas companies that don’t have the in-house resources or expertise to develop effective ERPs. “Usually with small companies, someone gets thrown into the role as part of their portfolio on the health safety and environmental side,” said Wend-

24 Hour Service

landt.

“Those folks have so much on their plate. This is not something you can do 10 per cent of your time.

It takes a lot of time and commitment.

“It’s not just doing the plan. It’s doing the training, the exercises and it’s working with those stakeholders and other agencies that are going to be with you when bad stuff happens.

“One of the things that separates us from our competitors is that we work with virtually every industry and government. We work hard to make sure all parties can work together.”

Typically, one of the first things ERMC does for clients is to meet with their operations and management staff on-site and complete a risk hazard assessment to understand the possible hazards in the workplace.

“Once you have that you can build an ERP,” said Wendlandt. “That plan is really the foundation of how you deal with incidents or crises.

“The plan should include how you handle alerts right up to full blown disasters. There would be a very clear structure, an organization in place, defined roles and responsibilities and acknowledgement of who your partners in emergency response are.

“Everyone has to realize that you are never in a crisis or emergency by yourself. If I am an industry member, I will probably be liaising with a local municipal emergency responder or contract resources or other industry partners.”

A complete ERP will also include a crisis communication component with media relations actions.

ERMC was formed in 1990 and has written hundreds of ERPs and disaster response exercises for a growing client base including some companies in the Alberta oilsands. ɸ Page C19

ATTENTION Are boggy leases or roads keeping

Oilwell Servicing Ltd.

you from your service work?

30 years 1978 - 2008

MATTING for SALE or LEASE

• 3 Free Standing Rigs Available • 1 Mobile Double Double • 2 Mobile Fr ree Standing Single Doubles

Specializing in...

• Workovers • Completions • Abandonments • Pump to Surface

Description: 4 section 2” x 6” rough spruce construction placed sideways on ends (6” deep) (8’ x 40’) FLAT (no hinges) (8’ x 50’) FLAT (no hinges) (4’ x 12’) Hinged Matting (hinge in centre)

Lloydminster

(306) 825-7914 Darryl Garrison Cell (306) 821-2815

Call Darryl at 1 (780) 808-1829

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

C19

Emergency response plan On site incident training exercises are essential to emergency preparedness for oil and gas companies in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Photo courtesy of ERMC

ɺ Page C18 “One of the risks of oilsands operators is the possible environment damage as a result of some of their processes,” said Wendlandt.

“We don’t do the mitigation, but we will sit down with our clients to discuss what the hazards are and the risks of possible impacts.

“From a planning priority their job is to mitigate that. We help them design systems in the event those safeguards fail.”

As the demand for ERP services increases, ERMC is planning to establish a permanent office in Ontario and expects to hire one or two new consultants to its nine member Edmonton headquarters in 2010.

“Everyone has a different background,” said Wendlandt who once worked for an aerospace company investigating aircraft accidents.

Wendlandt is also fully experienced working with clients on Incident

Command and Emergency Operations Centre set up, training and operation.

“We have an ex-deputy chief and another fellow whose expertise is in gas plants,” added Wendlandt. “We have one worker who has a background with the Alberta Safety Services branch of Municipal Affairs.

ERMC also utilizes a wide network of specialists and subject matter experts to assist clients when required.

“Our goal is to establish relationships,” said Wendlandt. “We want to provide that service that the client can’t and provide a regular update service, training and helping them develop exercises.

“Unless you train and exercise the plan, it’s going to sit on the shelf and gather dust.

“The key part of the process is making sure that there is a company-wide approach to dealing with incidents, having a system in place and getting the buy in from senior leadership.”

Troy Illingworth Cell: (780) 808-3183 Tim Sharp Cell: (780) 871-1276

Office: (780) 847-4666 Fax: (780) 847-4661

ERMC provides emergency response training and exercises to a wide range of clients including this industrial client.

Photo courtesy of ERMC

Box 82 Marwayne, AB Welders, Service Crews, Lease Mowing & Bobcat Service

ATV / SLED DECKS Adjustable width decks also available • Easy to load & unload • Reversible ramp for your snowmobile & quad • High quality brushed aluminum requires no maintenance • Rounded headache rack • 4 side LED lamps • Super Clamps Included • Strongest (and longest) ramp system on the market

Re-usable and High Resale Value

Lloydminster Paint & Supplies Ltd. Daryl (780) 875-4454 or (780) 871-4109 5628 - 44 Street, Lloydminster, AB

• Our customers testify that we have the best looking deck on the market - and it is built to last • If a customer decides to purchase a different pickup the deck can accommodate either Short & Long Box trucks

C20

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

HELP WANTED CD Oilfield Servicing Ltd. is currently hiring for all positions.

All tickets & Class 3A License an asset, experience preferred but will train the right applicant.

Call Adam at 204-851-2118

Career

Opportunities

ELECTRICAL APPRENTICES & JOURNEYMEN REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY Require safety certiĂ&#x20AC;cates & valid drivers licence.

Competitive wages and beneĂ&#x20AC;ts package.

Fax resume to 637-2181 or deliver to: 62 Devonian Street, Estevan, Sk.

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OPERATOR

Environmental Project Manager - Saskatchewan Job Description: Pioneer is currently looking for an experienced and energetic environmental professional /technician to conduct remediation projects in our south eastern Saskatchewan operations. This person would be responsible for the development of new clients and explore with the Manager Environmental Services Saskatchewan areas in which Pioneer could expect natural and reasonable growth from its present and existing environmental service base.

Responsibilities & Duties: ¡ Conduct fieldwork activities and reporting for lease and pipeline development ¡ Conduct fieldwork activities and reporting with the purpose of acquiring acknowledgement of reclamation ¡ Conducting Environmental Site Assessments, Phase I, II, III Projects and Environmental Impact Assessments ¡ Develop and build relations with our existing client base ¡ Explore areas in which Pioneer could expect natural and reasonable growth ¡ Other environmental related projects for clients as directed

The successful candidate will be responsible for: â&#x20AC;˘ Driving Wireline unit to and from various job locations â&#x20AC;˘ Serving Servicing of various down hole tools and auxiliary equipment â&#x20AC;˘ Cleaning and maintenance of Wireline units, shop vehicles and shop â&#x20AC;˘ Rig up and rig out of all related Wireline Cased Hole or Open Hole equipment This position is shift work with 24 hours on call and scheduled days off.

Individual must be willing and able to travel with wireline crew and must work well individually and in a team environment.

QUALIFICATIONS â&#x20AC;˘ Must be able to pass pre-employment drug and physical test â&#x20AC;˘ Physically fit â&#x20AC;˘ Valid Class 3 Drivers license with air brake endorsement â&#x20AC;˘ Valid H2S Alive ticket an asset â&#x20AC;˘ Any other industry standard safety courses are a definite asset Candidates must also have excellent customer service communication and organizational skills and possess the ability to work both independently and within a team environment.

Fax or mail resume to: Box 694 Estevan, SK S4A 2A6 Fax: 306-634-9728 or for more information call: 306-634-4726

Wireline Services

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY at

Qualifications: ¡ Minimum 5 to 10 years of experience in environmental consulting industry. ¡ Strong communication and interpersonal skills. ¡ Environmental experience in Saskatchewan within the Oil and Gas, Energy, Infrastructure and other industries. ¡ Strong regulatory experience and relationships with government organizations.

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Location: Currently our Saskatchewan operations are headquartered in Regina, SK, the ideal candidate would work out in the field based in south eastern Saskatchewan. Pioneer also has offices located in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Fort St. John and Sylvan Lake.

Interested candidates are invited to a forward a resume, in confidence to: tkanuka@pioneer-group.ca We would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this position however only those selected for interviews will be contacted. www.pioneer-group.ca

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We are currently looking for the following: â&#x20AC;˘ Experienced Pressure Truck Operator - Full time position â&#x20AC;˘ Equipment Operator for Cementing & Acidizing - Full time position - Will train the right person Wages negotiable with great benefits

Contact Randy at 577-9890

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STIMULATION SERVICES

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TRICAN WELL SERVICE LTD. is one of Canada's fastest growing well service companies, providing a comprehensive array of specialized products, equipment and services utilized in drilling, completion, stimulation and reworking of oil and gas wells in the Canadian and International marketplace. At Trican, we base our recruitment practices on the belief that a company's greatest asset is its people.

Trican provides services in Fracturing, Cementing, Acidizing, Coiled Tubing, Nitrogen and related services in our field bases ranging from Fort Nelson, BC to Estevan, Saskatchewan.

â&#x20AC;˘ Part-Time Office Person Required for Estevan Location Some experience required

586 Edinburgh Rd W, Lethbridge, AB T1J-4Z7

Tubing Inspection Technician/Manager Tubing Inspection Technician will inspect production tubing while the service rigs are pulling it out of the hole. Our company performs work in Southern Alberta and Swift Current. The candidate will have the opportunity to help us start up the Estevan area. The truck will be located in Estevan and will cover the Southern Saskatchewan.

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â&#x20AC;˘ SUPERVISORS â&#x20AC;˘ OPERATORS â&#x20AC;˘ DRIVERS â&#x20AC;˘ FRAC HANDS â&#x20AC;˘ HEAVY DUTY DIESEL MECHANIC A valid Class 1 required as well as prior experience in the above pressure pumping operations.

Trican offers a dynamic work environment and a competitive salary and benefit package. Please apply in person to any of Trican's field bases or forward your resume and references, in confidence to:

Trican Well Service Ltd. Box 849 Estevan, SK S4A 2A7 Fax: (306) 637-2065 â&#x20AC;˘ Email: vscott@trican.ca

Responsibilities Include â&#x20AC;˘ Sales and initial start up â&#x20AC;˘ Inspecting production tubing â&#x20AC;˘ On call with answering phone â&#x20AC;˘ Follow up â&#x20AC;˘ Customer relations â&#x20AC;˘ Safety upkeep â&#x20AC;˘ Keeping truck and inspection unit clean â&#x20AC;˘ Er The successful candidate will have experience in the tubing inspection industry. In addition the candidate will be a team player who is well organized, energetic, adaptable to changing priorities, pays attention to detail and displays excellent interpersonal and communicative skills.

Stimtech offers a rewarding work environment, competitive wage and a performance based bonus plan.

If you are interested in joining the Stimtech team please forward your resume to stimtech@telus.net or call Steve: (403) 633-0590

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

C21

Sure Flow OilÀeld Services Inc. Box 7400 Bonnyville, Alberta T9N 2H7 Fax: (780) 826-7715 Email: sureÁowconsulting@telus.net Website: www.sureÁowconsulting.com

Career Opportunities

We immediately require full time Àeld operators for work in the Frog Lake and surrounding area for an intermediate size oil company. Candidates with at least 1 year heavy oil operations experience would be preferred. Candidates will be required to provide their own truck complete with tools and cell phone.

In addition we also require power engineers for various clients throughout Alberta & Saskatchewan.

Please email or fax resumes to the above address.

Successful applicants will be notiÀed for interviews.

L & C Trucking www.suretuf.com

CNC Plasma / Oxyacetylene Operators Applicants must have welding background.

Driver’s license required. Reliable, team player.

Wages depend on experience. Benefits available.

Performance bonuses.

Only those to be interviewed will be contacted.

Apply in confidence to: Fax (780) 808-2689

“Serving the Oil Patch for 54 Years”

• TRUCK DRIVERS • SWAMPERS • YARD HANDS • MECHANICS Competitive wages, health plan, safety tickets an asset, but will train.

Apply in person with resume or fax or email to:

Estevan Meter Services Ltd. is an OilÀeld Service Company.

Operating in Southeast Saskatchewan since 1967, specializing in Instrumentation, Combustion Services, OilÀeld Repairs, and Specialty Supply Items.

We are currently seeking an individual to Àll the position of

COMBUSTION TECHNICIAN

The successful candidate should be a Journeyman Gas/Pipe Fitter with a minimum of 5 years oilÀeld experience. Preference will be given to individuals holding a commercial Gas Fitter license. Consideration will be given to applicants with combustion or oilÀeld related experience. Individuals without experience may be offered combustion and instrumentation training.

We offer full beneÀts, bonuses, pension plan, extremely competitive wages.

Please Apply by Resume to:

Estevan Meter Services Ltd. Box 355 Estevan, Sk. S4A 2A4 or email: dmartens@estevanmeter.com Only persons to be interviewed will be contacted.

24 Hwy 39 E Estevan Attention: Blair Hunter Fax: 634-8699 Email: LCTrucking@sasktel.net

C22

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

Resources Guide

Kevin Anderson/Darwin Krall

FUSION INDUSTRIES LTD. â&#x20AC;˘ Quality Control â&#x20AC;˘ Pressure Welding â&#x20AC;˘ OilĂ&#x20AC;eld â&#x20AC;˘ Portable Welding â&#x20AC;˘ Fabrication â&#x20AC;˘ Breaking â&#x20AC;˘ Shearing â&#x20AC;˘ CNC Plasma & Torch Cutting â&#x20AC;˘ P1-P1 Carbon Steel Procedures â&#x20AC;˘ P1-P8/P8-P8 Stainless Steel Procedures 24 hr Service

301A Kensington Ave. Estevan, SK.

Phone: 634-6177 Fax: 634-6178 Cell: 421-5441 421-6179

Email: fusioninc@sasktel.net

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Saskatchewan Owned & Operated

â&#x20AC;˘ Pressure Vessels â&#x20AC;˘ Well Testers â&#x20AC;˘ Frac Recovery â&#x20AC;˘ Wellbore Bleedoff â&#x20AC;˘ Ball Catchers â&#x20AC;˘ 400 bbl Tanks â&#x20AC;˘ Rig Matting â&#x20AC;˘ Complete Trucking Services

Dale (306) 861-3635 â&#x20AC;˘ Lee (306) 577-7042 Lampman, Sask.

Bulk Agency

JUSTIN WAPPEL - Division Manager 401 Hwy. #4 S. Biggar, Saskatchewan PO Box 879 S0K 0M0 Ph (306) 948-5262 Fax (306) 948-5263 Cell (306) 441-4402 Toll Free 1-800-746-6646 Email: jwappel@envirotank.com www.envirotank.com

912 6th Street, Estevan

634-7275 Toll Free: 1-866-457-3776

SONAR INSPECTION LTD. Head OfĂ&#x20AC;ce 1292 Veterans Crescent Estevan, Sk. S4A 2E1 F: 306-634-5649

E: sonarinsp@sasktel.net W: www.sonarinspection.ca

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Serving All Your Inspection Needsâ&#x20AC;?

UT - MT - PT - RT - VISUAL

Lloyd Lavigne â&#x20AC;˘ Kirk Clarkson Owners/Managers 5315 - 37th Street Provost, AB T0B 3S0

6506 - 50th Avenue Lloydminster, AB

Phone: (780) 875-6880

CertiĂ&#x20AC;ed Level II CGSB Inspections

Phone: (780) 753-6449

Fax: (780) 875-7076

Estevan OfĂ&#x20AC;ce: 306-634-5285 Regina OfĂ&#x20AC;ce: 306-531-5939

24 Hour Service Specializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors

4?E7 3?<@9DDC ?g^Ub =Q^QWUb www.pennwest.com 311 Kensington Avenue, Estevan â&#x20AC;˘ 634-1400

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a l t u s g e o m a t i c s . c o m OIL / INDUSTRIAL / AGRICULTURAL / AUTOMOTIVE

352-7668

TOLL FREE 1-877-778-7460 Box 208

Estevan, SK

S4A 2A3

461-8471 â&#x20AC;˘ 461-8472 â&#x20AC;˘ 461-8473 Call: Clinton Gibbons

WEEKDAYS 7:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. SATURDAYS 9 A.M. - 1 P.M.

STOCKING ENGINE PARTS

1404 SCARTH ST., REGINA, SASK. website. www.continentalengine.ca FAX 525-8222

continentaleng@sasktel.net

Specializing in well site and pipeline surveys Yorkton 306.783.4100

Swift Current 306.773.7733

Edmonton 800.465.6233

Weyburn 306.842.6060

Lloydminster 780.875.6130

Calgary 866.234.7599

Regina 800.667.3546

Medicine Hat 403.528.4215

Grande Prairie 780.532.6793

PIPELINE NEWS February 2010

C23

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PIPELINE NEWS February 2010